The Science of Friendship
by Shadowsnake89
Summary: Sequel to "Three Sirens and a Sunset". A chance encounter with Trixie gives the alternate world Twilight a chance to prove her theories about the odd happenings at Canterlot High. Once she has her unwitting victims its a race as both the Rainbooms and Dazzlings scramble to find their missing friends. Inspired by jakevoronkov1 and GuardianAngel1234567.
1. Chapter 1

"Alright Spike, we've got more sets of those strange readings. Three guesses to where they lead." Twilight says to her pet who barks in response. Since the fall of last year the girl's many devices had been picking up on peculiar energy readings, all within the vicinity of Canterlot High School. She hops into her computer chair and begins looking over the new data as well as the local newspaper. She checks the headline article concerning the collapse of the local opera house then checks the energy readouts. "There's definitely a spike in the readings concurrent with the theater's destruction. No way that's coincidence." As she continues checking she hears a knock on the basement door as her older brother, Shining Armor stands on the stairwell leading down to the basement.

"Hey Twilight, me and Cadence are heading out to get something. You wanna come?" Twilight looks up from her papers, pushing her glasses up before answering.

"No, thanks. I have a lot of data to look over. Maybe next time."

"Come on Twilight. You know, there's more to life than these crazy theories of yours."

"It's not crazy! I know I'm right. I just need a little more proof and then everyone will see that I'm not just that creepy, crazy girl who lives down the street and has no friends." She puts her hands on her desk as a tear runs down her face. Her brother walks up, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Why don't you come with us? Cadence would love to see you."

Twilight pulls off her glasses, wiping her eyes. "Okay. Just let me change and I'll be right up. Come on Spike, let's get you something to eat too." The dog barks in compliance as she gets prepared to leave the house. Unknown to her, one of the devices begins to pick up something.

**Canterlot Cafe**

"So glad you could make it Twilight. It seems like forever since we've spent time together." Cadence says as the three enjoy each others company at their booth.

"Yeah, I've just been busy with some of my research." She responds looking down at her cheeseburger.

"Oh, what are you researching?"

"It's not much really. Seismic readings and anomalies I've noticed recently."

"Twilight here might just be on to something big." Shining Armor says before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Sounds pretty important." Cadence comments.

"It's all just theory at this point. I can't really prove anything right now. If I just had a little..." She stops mid-sentence as a conversation catches her ear from a few booths away.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie and the Illusions should have won Canterlot High's battle of the bands if not for those blasted Rainbooms." The name of that school causes Twilight to turn her head slightly to look at the girl with blue skin and white hair talking to two other girls. "But don't worry girls, soon Trixie and the Illusions will have their revenge." She says as the two nod in agreement.

"Will you excuse me for a moment? I need to go talk to someone." Twilight says as she slides out of the booth.

"Are those girls friends of yours?" Cadence asks as she and Shining Armor watch her get up.

"They could be." She says lightly with a smile as she walks over to the trio. "Excuse me."

"Yes." Trixie says with an annoyed expression. She looks up looking over the girl, attempting to peg where exactly she has seen her before. "Have we met?"

"Not unless you frequent Zecora's Overseas' Commodities."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie does actually. It provides her with a plethora of artifacts for her performances."

"That must be it. I don't mean to ease drop I couldn't help but overhear. You attend Canterlot High School?"

"Certainly, The Great and Powerful Trixie is the greatest musician there." Her friends say in unison.

"Right, these are Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush." She introduces the two, the first girl with blonde hair and the later with purple.

"Pleasure to meet you. I think we might have something the other is interested in. Would you be willing to make a trade?"

"It depends. Is there anything you could offer Trixie?"

"Oh I'm sure it'll be worth your while. Meet me at this address tomorrow, say four o'clock. You won't be disappointed."

The next day Trixie arrives at the address written down on the card. It leads her to what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is not amused." Looking across the way she notices a yellow arrow painted on the wall and follows it before taking several turns as she is guided by more painted arrows. This trail eventually leads her around the back and into a small entry way. She looks up as she is soon in a large basement filled with all sorts of brightly lit machinery. "Hello."

"Glad you could make it." Twilight says as she appears from around one of the pillars.

"Yes, yes. Now Trixie is ready for what she came for."

"Oh right, where is my head. If you'll just have a sit right their we'll get started." She guides her over to a pair of swivel chairs. The two seat down as the purple haired girl gets out a note pad. "Okay I think we're all set."

"Sorry, but The Great and Powerful Trixie didn't catch your name."

"Oh forgive me. My name is Twilight Sparkle." This causes Trixie to give her a peculiar stare.

"Twilight Sparkle? That's impossible." Trixie says.

"And why is that?"

"Oh nothing. It's just that I could have sworn I met someone with a similar name. So what is it that Trixie can do for you?"

"I've noticed that there are some odd things going on at your school and I'd like to ask you some questions about it. Anything you can tell me would be helpful."

Trixie gives a humored smirk as the girl holds up her notepad. "Where do I start?"


	2. Chapter 2

"And then I said: It is I who deserves to be in the finals. And I will not be denied." For the past hour and a half Trixie had been carrying on of her career as a musician and the many wrongs done to her.

"Uh-huh." Twilight says as she scribbles in her notebook. In large letters are written: Trixie Lulamoon. Extreme narcissistic tendencies. No valuable info. Conclusion? Waste of time.

As she prepares to wrap things up, the musician let's out some information that catches her interest.

"And I would have won the Battle of the Bands if it wasn't for those blasted Rainbooms. Just because they defeated the sirens."

"Sirens?"

"Oh just some girls with some sort of evil powers that tried to take over the school and possibly the world. Everyone gives the Rainbooms all the credit when The Great and Powerful Trixie would have easily disposed of them." Trixie dismisses this and continues on with her tirade. Finally fed up with Trixie, Twilight pulls out a remote and presses a button on it, which locks down the other girls hands and feet, restraining her in the chair. "How dare you! Do you know who it is you're dealing with?" As she struggles a dome like device fits over the top of her head.

"It's hard to forget when you speak in the third person." She presses another button, turning on a television connected to a collection of wires hooked into the helmet Trixie is wearing. "Sorry, I just needed your undivided attention. Here's how this is going to go. You see that monitor over there? It's going to process the images from your brain and put them on the screen. Anytime you try to lie or deviate from the topic at hand you'll receive a mild incentive to stay on target."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie never deviates, for she is the most intelligent, most brilliant..." She is cut off as the device gives her a minor jolt. "Ow."

"Sorry but to be fair I did warn you. Now lets talk about these strange goings on shall we." As Trixie answers question after question, Twilight is amazed at the images that flash across the screen, racing over to her computer to make sure it is recording every last second. "This is amazing. So much more than I could have ever dreamed of. I thank you miss Lulamoon for your cooperation."

"Cooperation, yeah that's what it was." Trixie says, rolling her eyes as the restraints are removed. "Now I believe you owe The Great...The Great...You owe...You..." Trixie staggers out of the chair, falling to her knees as her vision begins to blur. "What's happening to me?"

"I probably should have mentioned. I haven't exactly worked out all the kinks just yet. There are a few side effects including nausea, vertigo, drowsiness and short term memory loss." Twilight explains as Trixie passes out.

**Sugarcube Corner**

Trixie, having finally shaken off the effects of the device finds herself in the Cake's coffee shop, having no memory of the exchange, Twilight sitting across from her. "What...What was I saying?" She manages to say as she takes a sip of the still hot espresso in front of her.

"You were just telling me about how you were wronged by the Rainbooms and Dazzlings."

"Right. Those fools have underestimated Trixie. I am the most talented girl at CHS and soon I'll show them all."

"It's a shame they're working together now. It must make it hard for your band to play any venues with them around. If only there was a way to break them up, then you'd have no competition. Of course that's just me thinking out loud." Twilight says as she sips her drink. "I mean how else do you compete with people like that, that have such a huge advantage over everyone else?" Twilight takes a look at her watch. "Oh look at the time. I really have to be going. It certainly was nice meeting you but I have somewhere to be. Thanks for the info. Anything you want is on me." She places a fifty dollar bill on the table before heading out.

Trixie gives an odd look, as if she has missed something, before taking another sip from her drink, finding herself thinking about what the other girl had just said. If she could break up the group she'd be on top. All she needed to do is find the right fuel for the fire. She turns her head slightly to see a small paper bag on the table. She opens it to find two items, a bracelet with a small red stone embedded in it and a vial filled with red dust. Attached is a note reading: Here's my end of the deal. Just follow the instructions and you'll have everything you could ask for. See you soon.

Trixie gives a raised eyebrow as she places the items back into the bag. She then turns her attention back to finishing her drink before heading home.

**Canterlot High Outdoor Stage**

"Yeah we're better than ever." The girls sing as the Rainbooms and Dazzlings, minus Adagio, finish their set.

"Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about." Rainbow Dash says as the group takes a break.

"You girls have really improved since we put the bands together." Rarity comments as she places her instrument against the wall.

"I think we've all gotten better since then." Applejacks states as she removes her hat, wiping her brow. Across the room Pinkie and Sonata are helping themselves at the refreshment table.

"Sonata, lay off the snacks will you. You're gonna spoil your appetite and you know we're eating dinner at the farm tonight." Aria scolds her sister as the latter turns to her with three cookies in her mouth. She attempts to respond, crumbs flying from her mouth. Aria sighs lightly, takes in a deep breath, than speaks. "Close your mouth, chew and then swallow before you speak."

Her sister complies than continues. "Sorry Aria. You know what they say. You can't have just one. So when do you think Adagio will be back from her trip?"

"Couldn't tell you. But it can't be too much longer. Not really sure there's much out there to find." In the month and a half since the three returned through the portal Adagio had made frequent trips back to Equestria in an attempt to find any trace of other sirens, for what purposes the others couldn't say.

"At least Sunset Shimmer is with her this time. So I'm sure she'll be just fine." Fluttershy chimes in.

"Well until they get back we should definitely take advantage of all this downtime. I mean we haven't had to deal with any other craziness since you guys joined up. What do you say we try out Fluttershy's new song?" Dash says as the group prepares for another set. As they begin to play a crowd begins to slowly form around the stage as the area begins to fill with the other students amazed by their exciting performance and new songs, not to mention the group's always stunning transformations. Everyone in the crowd seems to be enjoying themselves as the accidental concert progresses. In fact the only ones who seem displeased are Trixie and the Illusions who are standing off to the side.

"That's it!" Finally fed up with the praise the band is receiving, Trixie barges onto the stage mid-song. The band stops playing as she makes it to the center of the stage.

"Hey Trixie! What gives? We're in the middle of a song if you hadn't noticed." Dash says, glaring at Trixie.

"Oh I noticed. I've also noticed how you've fooled everyone into thinking you're all such hot stuff." Trixie steps up to the microphone so that everyone can hear. "Oh don't think I haven't noticed. You and the Dazzlings using your 'special powers' to draw a crowd in. How stupid do you think I am?"

"I don't know. How stupid do you think you are?" Pinkie asks cheerfully.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is obviously stupid enough to..." She stops herself, realizing how far she has just gone into the sentence as well as speaking into the mic, as the crowd begins to laugh.

"Maybe you should get off the stage before you embarrass yourself any further." Rarity says.

"Trixie never stops before she embarrasses herself further. Wait, what?" This causes the crowd as well as the musicians to break out into more laughter. "Laugh now, but I see straight through all of you."

"Cool. Do you have x-ray vision?" Sonata asks.

"Seriously, we aren't using anything other than our natural talent. Maybe you should think about getting some yourself." Aria remarks as Trixie now becomes furious.

"Trixie has talent. And she certainly doesn't need some mind control powers to do it. You two shouldn't even be allowed to attend this school."

"Why don't you lay off 'em Trixie." Applejack intervenes. "They're not the monsters you're trying to make 'em out to be. They've changed since then. Maybe you should try doing the same."

"Actually we are kind of m..." Sonata attempts to explain as Aria covers her mouth.

"That's not gonna help, trust me."

Rainbow Dash pushes Trixie aside, taking back the mic. "Hey everybody. Do you like these girls?" She gestures toward Sonata and Aria. Everyone gives resounding cheers and claps. "And do you like our music?" They cheer again, louder this time. "And do you want this talentless hack to get off the stage so we can keep rocking?" As they cheer in agreement Trixie angrily exits.

"This isn't over." As she leaves the stage she pushes past a newly arrived Sunset Shimmer.

"Usual Trixie?" She asks with a smirk.

"You have no idea." Aria responds. "Where's Adagio?"

"She said she needed a little more time on her own so I decided to head back."

"I hope she's okay." Sonata says with a bit of concern.

"She'll be fine. If anyone can take care of themselves it's Adagio." Aria reassures as they turn back to the cheering, anxious crowd. "Hey Sunset, you wanna get in on this?"

"Definitely." Fluttershy hands her her guitar that is resting against the back wall as she joins in the makeshift concert.

**Zecora's Overseas Commodities**

Lavender Lace and Fuchsia Blush enter the dimly lit store looking for their band leader. "Hey Zecora." Fuchsia greets the store keep as they pass every manner of strange antiquity. "Is Trixie here?"

"She arrived here at half past four and she's locked herself behind the door." Zecora says pointing to the back of the store.

The two make their way over to the door and knock. "Trixie are you okay?" Lavender asks.

"Go away. Trixie doesn't want anyone to see her like this." The band leader sits on the floor of the room, her eyes red and puffy.

"Trixie we know you feel bad right now but you'll get through this." Lavender assures.

"Yeah, I mean it's just soul crushing humiliation." Fuchsia says blatantly without thinking. She receives and elbow from her band mate as payment. "What we mean is that you're Trixie, The Great and Powerful. The most talented musician and magician in the whole city."

"The Rainbooms and Dazzlings may be on top now but don't forget, we did technically win the Battle of the Bands." Lavender's words did carry some truth as the Rainbooms had not been a part of the final round and the Dazzlings had been booed off stage, leaving the Illusions the only real band left. "It may look like we're down and out now but we'll show them all who they're messing with. We're not just your band mates, we're your friends and Fuchsia and I are with you for the long haul."

Trixie looks over at her open backpack. On top of her things sits the bracelet and vial given to her by the other Twilight. She thinks back to what she said, wiping her eyes and standing up before opening the door. Her band mates look worriedly at her as she surprises them by bringing the two in for a hug. "Thanks girls, and you're right. We'll show them we've still got a few tricks up our sleeves." As she says this the bracelet on her arm begins to glow a bright red.


	3. Chapter 3

**Equestria**

"Hello, hello." Adagio calls out as she roams through a swamp on the very edge of Equestria. "I know you're out here. I just want to talk." As the siren receives no reply she begins to sing, patiently awaiting a reply. After a short while the bog below her begins to bubble up as she continues. Suddenly a large, green creature emerges from the water, almost twice her size as she looks up in amazement at what she had hoped to find, more sirens. "You know you're not easy to find." She says with a bright smile as the larger siren snarls at her. "My name is..."

"Adagio Dazzle. I know who you are. We all know who you are." She says, looking over the golden siren.

"We? There are more of us?" Adagio asks with hope in her voice.

"I wouldn't know. You're the first I've seen in recent memory."

"I don't understand." Adagio says, confused as to what she means.

"Well let me be very clear. After what you and the others tried to pull Starswirl was much less forgiving for any of us who attempted to follow your path. We managed to survive somehow and scattered to every corner of Equestria. How many remain I do not know. But what I do know is that you are not welcome here. Now leave me to my rest."

"Wait!" Adagio calls out after her as she turns to head back into the marsh. "I know I've made many mistakes in the past and I'm trying to fix them. I had no idea it had gotten this bad but for what it's worth I'm sorry for what I've caused. I've been searching all over Equestria for our kind to let them know you no longer need to hide. The ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia has made a special provision for any of us that are still out there, a place to truly call home again. I want to do my part to help as many of us as I can. Things have changed for the better and I was hoping to find more sirens to help. I know it isn't nearly enough to make up for the mess I caused."

"Well, it's certainly a start. Alright Adagio I'll hear you out. And the name is Crescendo Star. Just tell me one thing: What brought this all about? You seemed pretty determined before. So what changed your mind?"

Adagio puts on a light smile as she looks down to where her old pendent once was. "My sisters if you can believe that. Never would have thought they'd be the ones to bring me around."

"Alright then, what are we waiting for? Lead the way."

"Thank you. There is one thing I'd like to ask though."

**Canterlot High School**

As the bell rings for lunch, Trixie, Lavender, and Fuchsia watch from their hiding spot as the many students head for the cafeteria. "There they are." Fuchsia says as she looks through the small crack in the door they are hiding behind. The three watch as the Rainbooms meet up from their various classes.

"So how do you think Adagio is doing?" Sonata asks as she and the others walk down toward the cafeteria.

"I'm sure she's okay. She was doing fine when I left." Sunset answers, stopping at her locker to put her books away.

"I just hope she gets back soon. Doing two people's homework is not my idea of a well spent Saturday night." Rainbow Dash says. "Why did you decide to come back here in such a hurry anyway Sunset? If it were me in another world, I wouldn't be in any rush to go back to boring old school."

"Let's just say being back in Equestria reminded me that there was something here that needed my attention." She turns her gaze down the hall where the lanky, blue skinned janitor is busy being berated by vice principal Luna as he mops the floor.

"I asked for this mess to be cleaned up over an hour ago. Make sure that this does not happen again or we will be having a discussion concerning your future employment, or lack thereof." Luna says as she walks away.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am. It won't...it won't happen again. I'm..I'm..sorry." He says meekly staring at the ground. As soon as she leaves however, he glares at her angrily and continues his task.

"Mr. Sketchy, the creepy janitor with an appalling taste in jumpsuits?" Rarity says as the group look on.

"He's not exactly from around here." Sunset explains. "When I was studying under Celestia, Sketchy was the only one I could even come close to calling my friend."

"Is he a pony too?" Pinky asks.

"No he's what you'd call a wyvern, a snake like creature with wings like a bat. He aided me in my studies and even when I decided to escape here I contacted him and he managed to slip through as well. I haven't spoken to him in a long time."

"Why not?" Applejack asks.

"I promised him that once we had the crown we'd return to Equestria and rule as equals. But once I had my chance I guess I valued power over any type of friendship and I left him behind."

"Maybe you should talk to him, let him know you're sorry for what happened."

"I guess it couldn't hurt." Sunset says, taking in a deep breath before approaching the man. "Hey." She says meekly. "How...how have you been?"

The man doesn't even bother to turn to her as he continues mopping. "Oh you know, cleaning here and there, keeping busy, and you know, choking on the lies you tried to feed me."

"Listen, I'm really sorry for..."

Sketchy cuts her off. "No, you listen. I'm done with you and anything you have to say. You and me were supposed to be close, you were supposed to be my friend."

"I was...I am your friend. It's just..."

"Once you got what you wanted our friendship meant nothing. I have new friends now and unlike you they want me around. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do. It's not glorious but thanks to you it's my new lot in life." He walks away, dragging the bucket of mop water behind him as Sunset lowers her head. Her friends quickly come and console her.

"It's alright Sunset, I'm sure he'll come around, in time." Sonata says.

"Somehow I honestly doubt it."

Seeing her friend down, Sonata decides to change the subject. "Hey, what do you say we go and see how Aria is doing at the charity event after lunch? It is free period anyway."

"Yeah, because nothing says cheer up like watching Aria Blaze beat someone else up." Rainbow Dash says sarcastically.

"Well it makes her happy." Sonata says with a smile.

"I guess we could go and give our support." Sunset says, perking up as the group head to the cafeteria.

Back inside the hall closet, Trixie and the others have been watching the whole time. "Girls I think we might have what we need to take down the Rainbooms." Trixie says with confidence as she looks down at the bracelet on her wrist as well as the vial.

"What are we planning ladies?" The three look up eerily as Sketchy stands behind them.

"What are...how did you? Never mind. What do you want?" Trixie demands to know.

"Well seeing as how this is the janitor's closet it really shouldn't be that surprising." He pulls a cord above him, illuminating the room.

"I knew this place was familiar." Fuchsia says.

"More to the point, I'm here to help. Sunset Shimmer has burned me before and I want payback. I take it you have a grudge with her and her friends as well. If breaking up her and her little group is how I can get even then I'm all in."

"Awesome!" Fuchsia says enthusiastically. "The return of Trixie and the Illusions and...the creepy janitor guy. Hmm."

"So Great and Powerful Trixie, what's your big scheme?" Sketchy asks.

"Oh Trixie has something in store for those girls. We're all going to have to do our part to bring them down. Trixie is going to need a few things, also we will need this room as our base of operations."

"Sounds good to me. Where do we begin?" He asks as Trixie grins wickedly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Twilight's Home**

"There you go Spike." The girl says, tossing a rubber ball across the room. The dog retrieves the ball and brings it back to her as she sits in her chair. "Good boy." She says as she scratches his stomach. "It won't be much longer Spike. As soon as The Great and Powerful blah blah blah does what I know she will, we can move to phase two. I wonder how she's enjoying my little gifts. Hopefully for me she's read the instructions. Getting those wasn't easy by any means."

"Hey Twilight, dinners ready." Shining Armor calls from the stairs.

"Coming." She gets up as she see's the meter on one of her devices begin to move. "Well it looks like she's getting some use out of it. Who would have thought that janitor could be so much help. Well come on Spike it's dinner time."

**Human World (Several Years Ago)**

_Sunset Shimmer waits impatiently by the school statue, tapping her foot against the ground. Suddenly a tall figure comes crashing through. "It's about time Sketchy. What took you so long? And did you bring the supplies?"_

_The lanky fellow manages to get to his feet and hands her the bag full of the items he'd retrieved. "I have them Sunset, as you requested."_

_After grabbing the bag from him, Sunset's expression softens. "Thanks, I knew I could count on you. You've never let me down before. I don't know why I doubted you in the first place."_

"_It wasn't easy. One of the guards almost saw me. I heard one of them talking with the Princess." This news catches Sunset's attention. "It seems she has a new protege."_

_Sunset turns away from him to think for a moment. "Only natural. I left, so she replaced me. It just shows she never really appreciated me in the first place." Sketchy puts a reassuring arm around her. "Let's just forget about her for now. Once my plan succeeds, Celestia will wish she'd never crossed me. And then we'll rule all of Equestria."_

"_We?"_

"_Of course. I couldn't have gotten this far without your help. You're the only one I'd actually consider calling my friend. My best friend."_

"_Thank you Sunset."_

"Hello, hello. Are you listening?" Trixie's shouts, snapping Sketchy out of his flashback as he and The Illusions sit in the janitor's office. "I said we're all ready to start."

"Huh, oh right, yes. So, you're sure you know how to use this stuff?" Sketchy asks Trixie as she holds up the vial of powder, pouring a small amount into her hand.

"Pfft. The Great and Powerful Trixie knows exactly what she is doing. She reads the manual. Lavender, Fuchsia, step forward."

"Sure Trixie." Lavender says as their band leader blows the dust from the palm of her hand into Fuchsia's face.

"Now Fuchsia, it was Lavender Lace that ate your last pudding cup." Trixie says calmly as the girl's pupils turn a tint of red and she furiously grits her teeth.

"You what?!" The girl lashes out as Lavender attempts to defend herself.

"No I did not." As she says this, Trixie blows a bit at Lavender as she starts to get angry as well. "And what If I did? What's a dummy like you going to do about it?"

"You're the dummy."

"No you are!" Lavender yells as she and Fuchsia shout and shove each other.

"Amazing, it actually works!" Trixie says triumphantly as she watches the spectacle. "If it can do that from just a minor problem, just imagine what it can do if we stir up some real trouble." Unknown to her, the bracelet around her wrist begins to siphon off the energy from the two as the effects of the powder begin to wear off. The arguing eventually ceases as the two fall to their knees and begin to shake their heads.

"What just happened?" Fuchsia asks. "Can't remember anything."

"I don't know, but I think it had something to do with pudding." Lavender says as she helps her friend get back to her feet. "What was that?"

"That girls was the key to our revenge. We'll need some more recon if we're going to pull this off."

"I'm on it. I'll meet you girls when I have something." Sketchy says as he grabs a broom and heads out. As he walks down the hallway he can't help but think. "I sure hope this Twilight kid knows what she's doing." He then shrugs his shoulders, brushing the matter off.

**Canterlot High Auditorium**

"Come on Aria you can do it!" Sonata shouts with many of the other students as they watch Aria's match in the charity boxing tournament the school has hosted. As the bell for the end of the fourth round rings Aria, who has her hair tied back in a single pony-tail that sticks out of the back of her head gear, returns to her corner. As her sit is brought out, Snips and Snails, two of her corner men, help tend to her, giving her water and wiping her face with a towel.

"Alright you got this. Just keep doing what you're doing and you can't lose." Snips says as he puts her mouthpiece back in.

"You can do it." Snails says with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks." Aria says as she heads out for the fifth and final round. She comes out the same way as the rounds before, bobbing and weaving through her opponents punches as she closes in. Throwing a flurry of punches, she continues this tactic until the bell rings, ending the match. Aria and her fellow competitor walk to the center of the ring as the judge takes each girl by the hand. After a few painstaking seconds he raises Aria's hand to declare her the winner, as her friends along with many in the crowd cheer her on. As she celebrates in ring center, her friends rush in to congratulate her.

"That was pretty much the third coolest thing I've ever seen." Rainbow Dash says.

"Third?" Aria asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I have to leave some room for me of course. But being in the top five isn't bad."

Tiki climbs from Sonata's bag and leaps over to Aria. "Somebodies really missed their mommy." Sonata says as Aria rubs the ferret.

"I missed you too little guy, but you have to stay out of the way. I don't want to get in trouble. Now go back to bed and I'll see you after school, okay." The ferret obeys Aria's request and hops back into the pack.

"Thanks so much Aria for helping to raise money for the animal shelter." Fluttershy adds.

"And you only needed to win one more match to make it to the finals, so you could lose your next one and still qualify." Sunset says.

"Yeah, but I plan on winning that one too."

"What a firm stand. It seems a five win streak we both have planned." The group turn to see a pale skinned girl wearing blue jeans, a black and white striped shirt with a blue jacket over it. Her solid black hair, tied up in a bun, is broken up by a long white streak near the middle. "I'm sad to tell you in my retort, you'll be coming up a little bit short."

"Rope-a-Dope. Figures you'd make it this far." Aria says as she sighs. "And it looks like you're my next victim. Only one of us is going into the next round with a perfect record and it's going to be me."

"I hope you don't think me too big a jerk, but your trash talk needs a lot of work. In two days time we'll meet in the ring. Your defeat will be such legend all will sing. I will defeat you and that will be that. And so I say to you, get used to the mat." She abruptly leaves with her entourage as Aria sneers at her exit.

"I really can't stand that girl. If it's not the bragging it's the constant rhyming. I'm really looking forward to give her a humbling."

"Don't worry, once you get through my training regime you'll have everything you need to take her down." Rainbow Dash says.

"And I have the most fabulous robe for your ring walk." Rarity adds, pulling out a set of designs as Pinkie looks over them.

"Cool."

"Thanks you guys. I appreciate all the help."

"No problem. But you should really be getting ready for your date tomorrow." Sonata blurts out.

"Sonata!"

"Date? Do tell." Rarity says as her eyes light up.

"It's nothing." Aria says, slightly defensive.

"She's going on a date with Snails." Sonata says happily as the others give surprised and happy looks.

Aria begins to blush from embarrassment. "What? It's just one date. He's been helping a lot in getting me ready for the tournament. I at least owe him that much." Everyone collectively gives her a smirk. "Fine, and he's kind of cute in a dorky way. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Pretty much." Applejack says, chuckling.

"Anyway, it's a surprise, so don't tell him okay?" The girls all agree before they head out. Unknown to them Sketchy is a short distance away, sweeping the floor of the auditorium, listening to their conversation.

"Trixie, come in." He says over his walkie talkie. "I have something I think we can use. I'm on my way back." As he prepares to leave the still unorganized auditorium he is stopped by Vice Principal Luna who gives him a stern look. "Scratch that. I've got something to take care of before that so I'll be held up for a bit. Sketchy out." He puts on a fake smile and continues sweeping as Luna, while not completely satisfied, takes her leave. After she leaves he looks up and notices three male students joking around, one with tan skin and a black afro, one with white skin and short red hair and another with tan skin and purple hair. "Hey, you guys wanna make twenty bucks a piece?"

"Are you sure you won't get into trouble?" Fuchsia asks as she has been teamed up with the janitor, who has successfully slipped out of his duties while Trixie and Lavender have gone on their own. Trixie has given them instructions on what to do for her plan to succeed.

"Nah, I got some guys to cover for me. Since Vice Principal Luna rarely ever leaves her office except for disciplinary action they should be done before she comes to check. I get out of doing it and I'm only out sixty bucks."

"Sixty bucks? Jeez. Who'd you get?"

"Some kids. Uh, Cut something."

"Cut Off? You messed up. They'd have done it for five bucks between them."

"Now you tell me. There he is." Sketchy says as they spot Snails talking with Snips down the hall. "Okay, time to work our magic." He says as he pretends to start mopping as Fuchsia prepares for her role.

"Okay Fuchsia, you got this. Stay loose, stay natural." She says before clearing her throat. "Hey Snails, you got a minute?" He and Snips make their way over to the girl. "A little birdie told me that a certain singer has eyes for you."

"Wow, really? Who is that?"

Fuchsia stops herself short of slapping him before answering. "Aria Blaze."

"Oh, cool."

"Congratulations pal." Snips says, patting him on the back.

"But there's also some bad news. It seems she's a little shy about coming out and saying it. So it might be up to you to make the first move."

"How do I do that?"

"Don't mean to intrude but I couldn't help but overhear your predicament."

"My what now?"

"Your problem kid, your problem. It seems to me that if you want her to confess her love to you you got to put some pressure on her to make her want to. Make her think you're interested in another girl."

"Hey that could work." Snips admits.

"Okay, what should I do?"

"You need to kiss a girl and make sure she sees you do it. Lucky for you I know the perfect girl. You kiss her and Aria won't be able to hold it in anymore." Fuchsia says with a friendly smile. After some coercing, she finally convinces Snails to do exactly what she recommends. "Trust me, if you do what I said, word for word, she'll be all yours. Now, are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

"Great, there she is. Now go get her champ." As he makes his way over to the other girl, Fuchsia contacts Trixie over the walkie talkie. "Trixie this is Fuchsia. We're all set on our end. How about you guys?"

"We're on time, on task and on target. Well, at least Trixie is." She says as she watches as her band mate leads Aria around the corner.

Trixie hams up her acting for this particular instance. "This way Aria. It's terrible, simply terrible."

"What's so …." Aria stops herself as she looks down the hall to see Snails kissing a girl, and not just any girl but her younger sister. She is stunned by what she sees, not quite able to piece things together. Behind her, Trixie blows a cloud of the dust in her direction. She breaths it in without even noticing.

"I'm sure you have some things to discuss with Sonata." Trixie says with a smirk as she watches as Aria angrily makes her way down the hall.

"Snails, what are you doing?" Sonata asks, confused as to what has just happened.

"I just thought..." Snails is puzzled as he was certain Fuchsia's advice would work.

"What is he doing? What are you doing?"

"Aria? It's not what it looks like." Sonata says in her defense.

"Oh really? Because it looks like you just kissed Snails. You knew we were going out. How could you?"

"Wait, what? We were going out?" Snails asks, clearly confused now.

"Yeah, were. Past tense." Aria says as she pushes him away. "Jerk." The few students present are shocked to see this happening as Aria turns her attention back to her sister. "I can't believe you."

"Aria, just calm down. Let me explain." Sonata pleads as the other girls enter the scene and head over to see what is going on.

"What's going on?" Sunset asks as they step between the two.

"Let's all just calm down and talk whatever this is out shall we." Rarity suggests.

"Oh I get. Aria's always the angry one so she must have started it!" The purple haired girl lashes out as the others trade stares.

"No one said that Aria." Fluttershy says, aiding in the attempt to calm her.

"You didn't have to. Forget this I'm outta here." Aria turns and begins to walk away. Sonata rushes after her, grabbing her by the shoulder. "Leave me alone!" What happens next shocks everyone, even Trixie and her team. Aria can't believe what she has just done as she looks down, where Sonata is laying on her side, clutching her left cheek, where her sister's blow has left a large bruise.

"Aria?" Sonata says with tears in her eyes as the other girls rush over to help.

"What's wrong with you? That's your sister. You might be a little high strung about the match, but you better stop taking it out on everyone else." Rainbow Dash says aggressively, getting into Aria's face. The girl responds by grabbing Dash by her jacket. She stops short of hitting her as she turns her attention back to Sonata who is still in tears.

"What is going on out her?" Miss Cheerilee says as she comes out into the hall. Aria shoves Rainbow Dash and runs off.

"I-I fell. I'm alright." Sonata says to cover up what has just happened. Rarity and Pinkie turn to the other students, convincing them to collaborate the story. Snails, out of shame and embarrassment quickly leaves as Sketchy makes his way around the corner.

"Let me take a look at that. Oh my that looks awful." Cheerilee says as she examines the injury.

"I heard the commotion ma'am. Is there anything I can do to help?" The janitor says, feigning concern. "Oh my. I'll escort her to the nurses office and get her fixed up."

"Thank you Mr. Sketchy."

"No problem ma'am. Right this way." As he leads her to the nurses office her friends all trade worried looks, trying to figure out what has just transpired. "Don't worry kid, everything's going to be just fine." He says reassuringly.

On the other end of the hall Trixie chuckles to herself. "That worked out even better than I could have dreamed." She is still, however, none the wiser of the energy being absorbed by her bracelet, her eyes momentarily turning a shade of red.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Pie Residence **

"Sonata, are you okay?" Pinkie asks from the other side of the door. The girl sits on her bed, curled up in a ball as tears roll down her face as Tikki licks her. Since the events two days before, Sonata had refused to leave the house, clearly shaken by what had transpired. Pinkie darts off and then back to the door with a cake in her hands. "I've got cake for your 'maybe birthday'. I wasn't sure if I could fit a few centuries worth of candles on it but I did." Receiving no response, Pinkie sighs sadly. "I'll leave it here if you change your mind." She sits it on the hall table outside of the room. As she grabs her things to head out for school, Maud comes down the hall. "I have to get to school. Could you watch out for her until I get back Maud?"

"Sure." The older sister says in her usual monotone voice.

"Thanks Maud. You're the best sister ever." Pinkie heads out and meets up with her friends at school.

"How is Sonata doing?" Rarity asks.

"Not too good. She still won't come out."

"Poor thing. This has really hit her hard."

"We all saw what happened. After what Aria did yesterday I can't say I blame her." Rainbow Dash says angrily as the girls walk down the hall to class.

"It just doesn't make any sense. Why would she do that, especially to Sonata?" Fluttershy says.

"I'm with Fluttershy. Something was definitely wrong with Aria. She wasn't acting like herself. Even if she was stressed out there's no way she'd take it out on Sonata or any of us for that matter." Sunset Shimmer says as she continues to explain. "Maybe if we talked to her."

"I wouldn't bother. She didn't even come back to the farm last night or the night before." Applejack comments.

"I saw her this morning training with Curly Winds and Wiz Kid." Rainbow explains.

"I cannot believe that she's still focused on winning that tournament when her sister is so distraught." Rarity says with distaste. "Speaking of." The group watch as Aria walks alone down the hall. As she walks passed them without saying anything, Rainbow Dash decides that enough is enough.

"Hey!" She says as she grabs the girl by the arm. "You're just not going to say anything to any of us after what you did? You owe Sonata an apology."

Aria responds by pulling her arm out of Dash's grasp. "Don't tell me what I need to do, alright? Right now I'm focused on one thing and that's winning my next match. I couldn't care less about Sonata, so get off my back." She brushes off Dash and the others and goes on her way.

"That work about as well as you planned?" Applejack asks a frustrated Rainbow Dash.

"All we can do now is be there for Sonata and hope Adagio comes back soon." Fluttershy says as they walk off.

"Whatever she's doing I hope it's worth it."

**Equestria**

None the wiser of what is going on on the other side of the portal, Adagio is engrossed in her task as she has located at least two more sirens as the collective group gets acquainted. "And that brings us to eleven by my count." Boogie Night says as he helps with the tally as many other ponies help with building housing for the new guests on a large plot of land.

"And this is where the magic happens." Double Down says as he gives Maud Pie a tour of the area. "Well not the literal magic but the figurative type. Get it?"

"Ha ha." She says dryly with a plan expression.

"That's why I love. You always get my jokes." As the two continue on Adagio, in her siren form soars in. "Hey Adagio."

"Hey. How are things going?"

"Oh great. We just finished a two of the houses and the others should be done by the end of the week."

"Thanks again for getting us this assignment. It beats cleaning the castle by a long shot." Cut Off says, wearing a hard hat.

"It's the least I could do after the problems I caused. If you'll excuse me." She flies up to a cliff that overlooks the area. Transforming into her pony form, she takes in a deep breath as she smiles as she looks out toward the sunset.

"Enjoying the view?" Adagio turns to see the source of the voice.

"Discord? Right, they told me you were free." She says with an unpleasant tone as the draconequus teleports behind her. "Just curious, how did a thousand years of imprisonment feel?" She says smartly.

"Stimulating actually. How was banishment in an alternate dimension, cut off from any real power?" Discord responds with a smirk. "So how goes the search? If I might be so bold to ask."

"You might. And it's going just fine if you must know."

"Oh yes. Your brilliant and completely genuine plan to help your fellow sirens after so many moons of persecution and hardship. How good for you."

"If you're just here to bug me it's working. So if you don't mind."

"I can take a hint. Wouldn't dream of interfering with your plans to help these poor sirens." He snaps his fingers and, in a flash is gone from sight. Before Adagio can sigh he is back again. "Of course I hope you're not so focused on helping them that you forget about your sisters and their problem."

"Problem? What are you on about now?"

"Oh I'm sure it's of no concern to you right now, seeing as you're so busy."

"Discord, tell me what's going on!" She says furiously.

"Well, after that little outburst I'm not so sure I feel like telling you anything." He says with his arms folded.

Adagio lets out a sigh, sucking it up to do what needs to be done. "Fine, I'm sorry."

"Say you're sorry with sugar on it."

This frustrates her even more as the conversation is working her last nerves. "Fine. I'm sorry with sugar on it."

"Well I'm not entirely convinced, but I accept your apology. Here you are." He snaps his fingers and opens up two large screens that show Sonata laying in her bed and Aria sitting alone in the school locker room, both girls crying. "I don't know for sure what's going on but I can tell you it's utterly chaotic over there. Simply fascinating how a world seemingly devoid of me can be so rich with disharmony. So much so that I can detect it even from here. But I'm sure they'll do just fine without you there."

Adagio looks back out over the area and then back in the direction of Ponyville. "No they won't. I have to go." She transforms back into her siren form and heads off.

"Yes, bye bye, and good luck." Discord says as he waves. "Silly thing. I could have just snapped my fingers and sent her to the castle if she'd have only asked." He shrugs his shoulders and walks off.

**Canterlot High School**

At the school, Trixie is reveling in her new trinket, using her powder to cause rifts, however temporary, between not only the student body, but the faculty as well. As the bracelet continues to absorb more and more energy, Lavender and Fuchsia trade concerned looks. "This is amazing! With this no one shall ever challenge The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

"Uh hey Trixie, maybe you should lay off that stuff for now. I mean, you don't want the act to get stale." Lavender suggests.

"Yeah, we already broke up the Rainbooms and Dazzlings." Fuchsia says. Turning her gaze she notices a dejected Snips walking down the hall with Snails, who is doing his best to cheer his friend up. "Haven't we done enough?"

"There's one more thing I have planned. Follow me ladies." Trixie says as she walks down the hall, Lavender and Fuchsia in tow. Fuchsia, however, stops a distance away and, instead turns to follow Snails. This eventually leads her to the soccer field, where he is sitting alone on the bleachers.

"Hey, Snails." She calls out as he turns toward her. Fuchsia takes a seat next to him. "Look, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have interfered with Aria."

"Eh, it's not your fault." He says.

"No it was my fault. I should have known better than to mess with something that was none of my business. Listen, there's more to all of this than just Aria and you. I can't really say much more but I feel awful after what happened. I just want you to know that if you need some help patching things up with her, you can count on me. You seem like a really sweet guy and I'm sure Aria will see that again." The two look down as she finds her hand resting atop his, quickly pulling it back. "I'm sorry. I should go."

"Thanks Fuchsia." Snails says as the two go their separate ways.

**Canterlot High Auditorium**

Aria sits in the girl's locker room alone, focusing on the upcoming match. She finds, however, that her usual calm demeanor is gone as she is visibly shaking, her mind filled with thoughts of what happened the other day. She attempts to piece together why she did what she did. True she'd always had a temper, but never to the point where she would hurt someone like she did to Sonata. She tries to tune these feelings out before the fight. "Relax, Aria. You can do this. You've trained for this for weeks." She repeats to herself several times before a she hears a knock on the door followed by Curly Winds' voice.

"Hey Aria, they're ready for you." He says as he waits patiently. She emerges a few moments later with her trunks and top on, both sporting the second half of her name in fiery letters. The two are joined by Wiz Kid who, along with the blue haired teen, act as her replacement corner men, both wearing white shirts with her name "Blaze" in the same fiery characters as her top and shorts.

"Thanks for doing this on such short notice guys. I know everyone's saying a lot about me right now..."

"It's cool. We wanted to help. Whatever is going on with you and your friends, that's your business."

"Yeah, we're not going to pry." Wiz Kid reassures.

"Thanks guys. Now let's get out there an show Rope-a-Dope who she's messing with. All in." The trio put their hands together.

"One, two, three, Team Blaze!" They say in unison as they head to the ring. As they enter, the two help her with her headgear and gloves before putting in her mouthpiece. They stand in their corner, awaiting the introductions as Rope-a-Dope dances around in her corner, loosening up for the first round. Aria looks around the crowd and finds that none of her other friends are there. "Guess I couldn't blame them." Trixie and Lavender are seated close to the front as Fuchsia joins them. "What took you so long?" She asks.

"Sorry Trixie, I got sidetracked. So what's the plan?"

"Right up there. Sketchy is acting as the referee for this match and I've given him specific instructions on what to do between rounds." She says with a smirk as her eyes momentarily glow red, a fact that does not go unnoticed by her band mates.

The bell rings for the first of five rounds as Aria and her opponent head out to the center of the ring. Aria starts her usually bobbing and weaving in an attempt to get on the inside but finds it increasingly difficult as Rope-a-Dope dances around the ring. She takes several swings, all missing their mark by a wide margin. Her opponent responds with several fast punches before moving back and away from her. This pattern continues for the remainder of the round as the bell rings and the two head back to their respective corners.

"Okay, don't sweat it. It's just the first round." Curly Winds tells her. "Come out next round and put the pressure on her. She'll never know what hit her."

"By my calculations it would be more beneficial to hang back and let her come to you. She'll tire herself out coming at you and you can easily sweep the last three rounds no sweat." Wiz suggests in stark contrast to his friend.

"That's not going to work." Curly says to him.

"Of course it will. Mathematics is never wrong." The two go back and forth before Aria interrupts.

"Are you two really friends? Because you don't seem to get along."

"Sure we are. He's the brains."

"And he's the brawn. And between our contrasting views, we're...not really sure we're going to be much help." Wiz says in embarrassment.

"That's okay, we'll manage." She reassures as the bell rings and she comes out for round two. As Rope-a-Dope comes out the same way, dancing around her opponent, Aria continues to move, taking steps back as she gives chase.

"I thought you were bold. Don't tell me you are planning to fold." Rope-a-Dope taunts as Aria continues to move back. After waiting for just the right moment, Aria lunges forward, now having her target positioned perfectly against the ropes. She swings with a left hook that slams against Rope-a-Dope's arm. She swings again and again as her opponent cannot escape. She prepares to swing again, only to stop in her tracks as she looks up, seeing Sonata's face in front of her. Backing away, she takes a surprise hit from the other girl as the bell for the round ends.

"She is not playing around. A new strategy to beat her must be found." Rope-a-Dope says to her corner as she sits on the stool. Sketchy approaches her and begins to look over her face.

"Are you alright?" He says as she nods. Unknown to her and her corner, the referee is holding a small amount of the red powder in his hand that she, in her heavy breathing, doesn't even notice as she inhales most of it. "Okay."

"And now for my plan to come into full swing." Trixie says from the sidelines.

"You okay?" Curly asks Aria as they give her some water. "Why'd you back off like that?"

"I'm fine, I'm just a little shaky that's all. I've got this." She says as she heads back out. She comes out the same way as before, stepping back before lunging forward to hit her opponent. This time however, Rope-a-Dope stays on her, hitting her with lightning fast punches as she gets more and more aggressive.

"Come on Aria, they said you were tough. From what I see you're not trying hard enough." Rope-a-Dope mocks as an angered Aria leaps forward, missing her and getting her arm caught in the ropes. Her opponent takes advantage of this and gets in some good punches as the bell rings.

Round four doesn't go much better as Rope-a-Dope gets even more aggressive, courtesy of Trixie's plan as she beats Aria around the ring. The purple haired girl gives it her all as she fights back. Meanwhile Trixie watches with amusement from the side as the bracelet continues to soak up the negative energy around her. As the match goes on, Aria receives constant encouragement from Curly and Wiz. Despite this, she finds it difficult to focus on the task at hand, causing her to take a hit that sends her to the canvas as the roar of the crowd drowns out anything else. Aria is up at the count of six and continues on til the bell rings for the end of the round. As she walks back to her corner Rope-a-Dope continues to taunt her. Curly Wind pulls out the stool as Aria slumps down on it, breathing heavily. "It's okay. You're not hurt. You're not hurt." He says as she shoves him.

"I am hurt. Of course I'm hurt. Did you see what she just did to me?" She lashes out before stopping and getting a hold of herself. "I'm sorry. I can't focus. I need to..." She looks up and realizes what she has to do. "Cut off the gloves."

The two trade concerned looks. "You sure?"

"If you quit it counts as a loss." Whiz Kid states.

"I know, but there's something more important than winning this. Do it." Curly Winds and Wiz Kid comply and wave off the fight. A few moments later and Rope-a-Dope is declared the winner. She cheers with her team in triumph but stops momentarily as she watches Aria leave quietly.

"And that girls is what I call a job well done." As Trixie says this her cellphone goes off. She looks down at it and reads the text. She gives it an odd look as she continues reading.

"What is it Trixie?" Lavender asks.

"Our gracious benefactor wants to meet."

Lavender and Fuchsia notice her eyes glowing red again. "Uh, maybe Fuchsia and I can come with you. Might be something worth seeing."

"Of course. What is The Great and Powerful Trixie without The Illusions?"

**Earlier That Day**

Sonata sits on her bed, as Tikki does his best to cheer her up. "Thanks Tikki, but right now I just want to be alone." She says as she sets him down on the floor. Rubbing her eyes, she decides to actually leave the room. Peering out cautiously, she emerges. The first thing she spots is the cake that Pinkie has left on the table. The blue-haired girl smiles lightly as she takes the cake and sits it on the kitchen table, looking over all the candles on it. "She really didn't cut any corners on this."

"That's Pinkie Pie for you. She never does anything halfway." Maud says as she comes into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Maud. What are you doing here?"

"I'm ahead on my studies so I'm taking the day off." She sits down across from Sonata and hands her a cake cutter. "What do you say we taste Pinkie's masterpiece?"

"It does look good." Sonata says as she cuts herself a slice, Maud doing the same after. After removing several of the candles, Sonata digs in. She occasionally looks up at Maud, waiting for her to say something as she lightly pecks at her piece of cake.

"If you don't feel like talking about it I won't make you."

Sonata looks down, swirling her fork around the plate. "No, it's okay. I can't keep this bottled up forever. Did Pinkie Pie tell you?"

"She told me enough. Why did this Snails kid kiss you?"

"I don't know. I always thought he liked Aria. I don't know if I did something to make him think I was interested."

"And Aria?"

"I don't know, I never thought she'd react like that. I mean, I know she was on edge with her big match coming up but I didn't think it got to her like that."

"I think we all have that time when we react in a way that we wouldn't. Pinkie Pie is sweet but, believe it or not, she can have her moments too. You know your sister better than anyone. What do you think? Does it really seem like something she'd do?"

"No, something was definitely wrong with her. I can't describe it but she wasn't herself. She'd never hurt me if she could help it." Sonata puts her fork down and stands up. "I have to find her and make things right. Thanks Maud. I thought you knew a lot about rocks."

"I do, but I'm also pretty knowledgeable with sisters." She says, cracking a light smile as Sonata hugs her before rushing to get dressed. She grabs her backpack as Tikki leaps inside and heads out the door. She rushes down the street and into the city as she makes her way to the school. On her way she sees a girl reading a book as she heads through the crosswalk. She is so engrossed in it that she doesn't even notice the oncoming car. "Look out!" Sonata screams as she pushes her out of the way. The two tumble onto the sidewalk on the other side as the car screeches to a halt. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks to you." The girl says as Sonata helps her up. The girl winces for a second.

"Are you hurt?"

"I think I sprained something. Help me over there." Sonata lets her lean on her shoulder as they head over to the mouth of an alleyway.

"There you go." She says as the girl sits on an old box. Sonata stops and takes a few steps back, looking at the girl with two-toned purple hair and glasses. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

"No, but I do know a lot about you from a friend of mine." The girl holds her arm out as a yellow mist sprays from a device on her wrist and into Sonata's face.

"What was..." Sonata stops as she starts to get dizzy. "I feel...funny." She tumbles over as the girl catches her, taking her deeper into the alley and laying her down. Tikki leaps out of the pack and snaps at the girl.

"Beat you little nuisance." She says, kicking at him as he runs off. She then takes out her phone and makes a call. "Hey, it's Twilight. Is everything going our way? Alright I have the other half and I'm ready to go. Yeah, all we need now is Lulamoon and my little gifts and we'll be good to go. Just make sure she wraps it up on her end, we don't have much time."


	6. Chapter 6

**Ponyville**

As the residents of the small community go about their daily business, Adagio flies in over head. As she comes into the castle, she is greeted by Twilight Sparkle. After explaining the situation, the two head towards the portal. "Sunset's letter reached me just yesterday. As surprising as it might seem, Discord was telling the truth. Are you certain you don't need any help?"

"I appreciate the offer but I couldn't ask you to do that. You've got a lot on your plate as a princess here. It wouldn't be fair for us to keep asking to help fix our problems every time. I'll just pop over and see what exactly is going on. Don't worry, if we do need any help, you're just a page away."

"Good luck." Twilight says as the two share a brief hug and Adagio walks through the portal.

**Human World**

"It's about time you got here." Twilight says as Trixie and The Illusions arrive in her car. "Hurry and load her in before someone sees."

"Woah, wait a minute. We are not helping you kidnap someone." Lavender Lace protests as Trixie backs the car into the alley.

"You're well within your rights to leave if you wish, but Trixie and I have an arrangement. Or, we can end our dealings here and now and I can simply take my gifts back and go our separate ways."

"Yes." Lavender and Fuchsia say swiftly.

"No!" Trixie says abruptly as she exits her car. "The Great and Powerful Trixie still has need of her services. We had an agreement and we are going to see this out to the end."

"Will you listen to yourself? Something is wrong with this whole deal. I didn't think of anything at first but that thing is messing with your head. It's just like the Dazzlings. You have to stop." Lavender says, taking a stand against her band leader.

"How dare you command me. Without Trixie you would still be working that lame standup night comedy routine. This is our chance to really be great and we are going to do this, with or without you."

Lavender stops for a moment, lowering her head as Fuchsia looks on. "No, I'm still in."

"Lave, you can't be serious." Fuchsia pleads as Lavender takes her to the side.

"If you don't want to be a part of this than scram. Once we're done there will be plenty of people lined up to be in this band." Lavender turns the two away and whispers something into her ear. "Now beat it!" She forces Fuchsia away, who runs off. "Looks like we will be needing to do some auditioning. Are we all set?"

"It seems so. Now let's go." Twilight says as the three get into Trixie's car, having already loaded Sonata in the back and drive off.

**Canterlot High School**

"Woah Aria, you have to take it easy. You took some serious hits." Curly Winds says as Aria attempts to shake him and Wiz Kid off as she leaves the nurses office on shaky legs.

"He's right. You need to take some time to rest."

"I'm fine. I have to talk to Sonata. Are you going to give me a ride or not?" She asks with a pair of sunglasses covering her swollen left eye.

"Alright, if you're that determined. We can take my truck." Curly says.

"When did you get a truck?" Asks Wiz Kid.

"Don't mean to brag but I got a job as the personal trainer of Sapphire Shores." He says confidently whirling the key ring around his finger.

"Dude, nice." As they prepare to head to the parking lot, Adagio surprises them as she emerges from the portal. "Aria, there you are." She says as she hugs her. "Are you alright? What's going on?"

"I'm fine Adagio, really?" She says, annoyed by her sister's concern.

She stops, removing Aria's sunglasses, taking a look at her left eye as the purple haired girl turns her head to avoid looking at her. "No you're not. That looks awful. Where's Sonata?"

"She's at Pinkie Pie's house. What are you doing here Adagio? I thought you were going to be gone the rest of the week."

"A...friend told me something was wrong so I rushed back here." Before anything else can be said, Aria's ferret rushes up to her, a piece of cloth in his mouth.

"Ticki? What are you doing here?"

"What is it?" Curly asks out of curiosity at the creature.

"It's a ferret. Kind of like a weasel you can keep as a pet." Wiz Kid explains.

"I left him with Sonata. He was with her after...after..." Aria pauses as Adagio can tell something is wrong. "Never mind. Ticki where's Sonata?" The ferret leaps down and begins to tug on her pants leg, attempting to lead her. "Alright, lead the way."

"Hey, can we come too?" Curly asks. "We do have a ride."

"Thanks. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing." Adagio says. The four then head for Curly's truck and head out as Ticki sits on the dash board.

"If we're gonna find Sonata we'll need some help. Stop by Applejack's." Aria says. Just as they leave, Fuchsia Blush arrives, running to the rear of the building. She rushes over to where Sunset and the others are seated. "You...help...big trouble...Trixie...science...craziness...tired." She says out of breath as she falls backwards from exhaustion. As the group stand over the girl, Rainbow Dash sighs before spraying Fuchsia with her water bottle. This instantly shocks her awake as she jumps up and runs her mouth a thousand miles a minute, leaving everyone confused. "Do you understand now?"

"So Trixie got into contact with some girl that looks almost identical to Twilight Sparkle, most likely the version from this world and gave her some strange gifts that somehow allowed her to manipulate people's emotions and she used them to try to break up our group so she could be on top. Then you decided to team up with the creepy janitor so he could get his own revenge. But you realized all too late that something more sinister was going down but by then it was too late and now our world's Twilight has Sonata and is on her way with Trixie to do who knows what with her and it's made even worse because Trixie has some kind of gem that's slowly turning her into some sort of evil tyrant." Pinkie says casually, leaving everyone else stunned. "What?"

"Wait, Sketchy was in on this?" Sunset asks.

"Um, yes." Fuchsia says nervously.

"The creepy school janitor is in on it? Why am I not surprised?" Dash says.

"We need to talk to him, now. If he has something to do with this, than it's even worse than we think." The group plus Fuchsia find the janitor cleaning the cafeteria. He looks over his shoulder and sees the girls approaching. "Hey boys, cover for me?" He says to Cut Off and his friends as they jump up and begin doing his job. Sketchy walks with them to one of the back hallways and takes a look over at Fuchsia, who turns her gaze away. "Alright, I take it we all know what this is about, so let me save us all the trouble and get right down to the bottom line. Yes I helped her with the whole deal and fooled Trixie and her friends into doing most of the leg work and no, I'm not going to help you." As he turns to leave, Sunset rushes behind him, hugging him from behind.

"Sketchy, I know you're angry with me, but please, don't take it out on someone else. You were my only friend and I was wrong for what I did to you. I've wronged so many people in the past and it took me a long time to realize the pain I was causing. I'm trying to make up for the mistakes I made and make it right with everyone. But if you can't forgive me then...I don't know if I can ever really forgive myself for what I've done to you." As tears roll down Sunset's face, Sketchy is doing his best to hold it in, as the others are tearing up. Through his forced voice, he manages to speak.

"Zecora's Commodities. I met her at Zecora's on the other side of town. I gave her a fragment of the gems that were left over after the battle of the bands. She only contacted me from then on. Go to the shop. She might be able to help you from there." He says with his back still turned.

"Thank you." Sunset says as the others walk up behind her.

"We should get going if we're going to save Sonata." Applejack says as they rush outside.

"And Trixie right?" Fuchsia adds.

Rainbow Dash lets out a sigh. "Please don't make us say that."

"Sunset Shimmer." Sketchy calls out as she stops. "Good luck." She nods in acknowledgment as she rejoins the others. He turns around to see a none too pleased Vice Principal Luna staring him down, the three students in front of her. "I'm fired aren't I?"

**Twilight's Lab**

"Oh wow, I had the weirdest dream. Aria was mad at me and I got all sad and locked myself up in my room. Then I saved some girl who knocked me out and..." Sonata looks around as she finds herself strapped to a cold metal board that is in a slanted angle, her hands and feet bound by chains. "Oh, I guess it wasn't a dream. My bad. Hey Trixie." Trixie rolls her eyes as Sonata smiles.

"So what's next Twilight?" She asks as the girl looks over her notepad.

"First I'll need your bracelet." She says calmly as Trixie begins to back away.

"You are not taking this from me." As she says this her eyes begin to glow red again.

"Calm yourself Miss Lulamoon. I only need it for a moment to extract the energy you've been gathering."

"What energy?"

"While you were going around with your little plan, you were also helping me. This little gem collects the negative energies of anyone around it and that, in conjunction with the dust I gave you, which was also made from the gem, has surely collected more than I can imagine. Now if you will I'll simply extract the excess energy and it's all yours to do what you will."

"And what happens to her?" Lavender asks, looking over at Sonata.

"Does it honestly matter to you?"

"Yeah, it kind of does." She says to the purple haired girl with her arms folded. "Trixie, we can't really be thinking about doing this are we?"

Trixie begins to massage her head, seemingly struggling to decide as the bracelet begins to glow again. She surprises Lavender Lace, grabbing her and lifting her off her feet. "Don't tell me you're wimping out too. We agreed we'd take down the Rainbooms, no matter what."

"Okay, okay." Lavender says as she tries to free herself. Trixie releases her as she gets back to her feet and brushes herself off.

"Here." Trixie removes the bracelet and hands it to Twilight, who turns to a table that contains a few of her work tools.

"Hey that's part of our old pendent." Sonata says as she looks over. Unknown to Trixie, Twilight switches the bracelet with a duplicate. She turns back to her, having hidden the real one under some papers. "There you are Miss Lulamoon, as promised. And I believe this concludes our business. Make good use out of it." Trixie places the bracelet on her wrist as she and Lavender exit. "While it lasts." Twilight then turns her attention back to Sonata who is playfully bobbing her head.

"Hey, do you have any food? All I've had to eat today was cake."

**Zecora's Over Sea's Commodities**

The group quickly enters the store as Zecora greets them. "Welcome, welcome my young friends to my store of wonders that never ends."

"Hey Zecora." Fuchsia says as she takes the lead. "This are my new friends. They were looking for an old friend, a girl who may come in here from time to time. Thick pair of glasses, purple hair, kind of a nerd."

"Hm, let me see if I can tell you who this might be." The woman says as she thinks to herself. "Ah, I know of the girl of which you speak. Twilight Sparkle is the one you seek. Yes she would come here quite often to purchase many things along with her good friend, Lyra Heartstrings."

"Lyra?" Rarity says I shock.

"You know her?" Fuchsia asks.

"Yes, she's the only girl in school with more energy than Pinkie Pie."

"Hey!" Pinkie says as she pops up behind her.

"Do you know where she is now?"

"She's usually on the edge of town working on one of her kooky ideas."

"Let's get over there. Hopefully she might have some answers. Thanks Zecora." Fuchsia says as they all head out. Rainbow Dash reenters the store briefly. "Hey are you related to a girl by the name of Rope-a-Dope?"

"Ah, a resemblance you see. Yes she is a niece to me."

"Thought so." Dash then abruptly exits again.

**Apple Family Farm**

"Here we are." Aria says as Curly pulls his truck up to the front of the home. She then jumps out and heads to the front, where Granny Smith is sitting on the porch in her rocking chair.

"Land sakes child, where have you been?" She says.

"Sorry I haven't been here to do my chores Granny but it's kind of an emergency and I really really need to borrow Winona. I promise I'll do all the chores for a month."

"Well, alright. But be back her tonight, nine o'clock sharp, understand?"

"Thank you so much." Aria says joyously as she runs back to the truck. She whistles sharply. "Here Winona, here girl." She dog rushes from the back of the house and tackles her to the ground, licking her face. "Alright, alright. It's good to see you too. Now come on girl, I need you to find Sonata." She holds up the cloth that she got from Ticki to her nose.

"You think there's enough scent on it for her to get a lead?" Adagio asks.

"We'll find out soon enough." Aria says as she hooks up Winona to a leash. "Okay girl let's go...!" Aria is pulled quickly as the dog sniffs the ground and darts off with her I tow.

"Follow that dog. Where she goes, we go." Adagio says as the other three follow in Curly Winds' truck.


	7. Chapter 7

**Edge of Town**

"Alright, she should be around here somewhere." Rarity says as the group approach the hills outside of the city.

"I hope this is worth all the trouble. If she can't help us, we're at square one again." Dash says as they continue their search.

"I should definitely write Twilight about this. She'll be able to get a message to Adagio." Sunset Shimmer pulls out her journal from her backpack as Fuchsia looks on curiously. As she brings out a pen, the group hears a noise a short distance away. The group reach a clearing where they find Lyra looking over the edge of a steep hill. Just ahead of her is a homemade go cart. Inside sits her best friend, Bon Bon, wearing a helmet.

"Lyra are you sure about this?" She asks nervously.

"Don't worry so much Bonnie. As long as my calculations are correct there's really nothing to worry about." Lyra says as she looks over a small note pad. She looks up, noticing the large group approaching. "Hey Rarity, never thought I'd see you out in nature."

"These are extreme circumstances. We came to find you because..." Before Rarity can finish, Rainbow Dash moves forward.

"Spill the beans. We're on to you."

"So you've pieced together that I'm just one Lyra out hundreds sent across time and space to collect information about different dimensions to subjugate them for our chrono lord, but that we decided to take a stand against him and keep our respective realms safe from his evil machinations." As Lyra finishes everyone is struggling to comprehend.

"Wait, you're a what now?" Bon Bon says in disbelief.

"We just wanted to find out what you knew about this world's Twilight Sparkle. You know, the one that isn't a princess." Dash responds.

"Oh, hehe. All that stuff I said before? Just forget it." Lyra says nervously as the girls trade odd looks. "Yeah, me and Twilight used to be real close friends before I transferred to Canterlot High a while back. Me and her used to make up all these weird theories and conspiracies back in the day. But she really started to take things a little too far, and before long that's all she spent her time doing. Eventually we went our separate ways. I don't know what she's doing now." As she says this, she accidentally bumps up against the go-kart, sending it slowly drifting over the edge.

"Uh Lyra?" Bon Bon says as it goes down the hill, picking up speed as she screams, Lyra completely oblivious to her friend's predicament.

"Well we think she took one of our friends for some super crazy reason." Pinkie says.

"Do you know where we might find her?" Sunset asks.

"Well, we did always have our secret lab. Well it was actually more like our secret hangout where we did our little studies on our theories. It's in the basement of the old Harriott hotel." As she says this, a crash at the bottom of the hill can be heard, still going entirely unnoticed by her.

"I know where that is." Fuchsia says.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Applejack says as the others follow behind her.

"Hey can I come too? Where you guys go, mysterious happenings are not far off. Plus, it'll be good to see Twilight again and catch up."

"Fine, but this isn't a meet and greet. This could be seriously dangerous. Got it?" Dash says.

"Ha, seriously dangerous is my middle name. Well actually it's Winifred but that's besides the point." As the group departs Lyra finally remembers Bon Bon and slowly peers over the edge of the hill.

"My legs!" She hears her friend scream out as she pulls out her phone and dials the paramedics.

"Really should have remembered to carry over that 1." She writes in her note pad before running off to join the others.

Unknown to Sunset and the others, Adagio and her group are well on their search for Sonata as Winona leads them through the streets as they race to catch up to her and Aria. "Did we really have to ditch your truck?" Wiz Kid, almost out of breath.

"Had to, they were taking way too many twists and turns to keep up, especially with all of this traffic." Curly explains.

"Terrific." Whiz says sarcastically. He then looks over at Adagio. "I mean, not that it's a problem for me. I could do this all day." He stops, doubling over, sweating heavily.

"One moment please." Curly say, before leaning over to talk to his friend. "You want me to carry you?"

"No, not in front of Adagio."

"Dude, I know you like her but we are in kind of an emergency situation. I doubt seeing you get carried around is her primary concern right now. And really, she stroked your chin once."

"Fine, but can I have a little dignity?" As he says this he quickly falls to the ground. "Ow ow, my ankle! I think I twisted it or something. You guys go on ahead without me."

"We can't just leave him here." Adagio says as she makes sure to keep Aria in her view. "Can't you help him?"

"I can probably carry him." Curly says.

"As long as I don't slow you all down." Whiz says as the athlete lifts him onto his back.

"Alright let's go." Curly says as they continue to follow. "Put it on a little too thick there." He whispers.

"Hey I'm a techie, not a drama club member."

As the others finally catch up to Aria and Winona the dog stops and begins sniffing around. "What's wrong girl?" Aria asks as Winona looks a short distance away and begins growling. The group look over to see Trixie and Lavender Lace walking in their direction. She pulls toward the two before finally getting out of Aria's grasp. Rushing to the surprised girls she begins barking and jumping at Trixie.

"Get away from The Great and Powerful Trixie you mangy mutt." She declares as Aria and the others catch up to her. "You'd do well to remove this mongrel from my presents."

"Sorry your royal highness." Aria says sarcastically, grabbing Winona's leash.

"We're trying to find Sonata and Winona was supposed to lead us to her." Curly explains, still carrying Wiz Kid on his back, causing a bit of laughter from Lavender.

"Ah, geez." Wiz says in embarrassment as he is put down.

"Well we certainly haven't seen her if that's what you're asking."

"We weren't." Adagio says as she can sense something off with Trixie as Winona continues to sniff her, refusing to budge. She then looks over at Lavender Lace who is clearly nervous about something. "Are you alright?"

"She's fine. Aren't you?" Trixie says as the blonde girl says nothing. "Lavneder!"

She almost chokes swallowing heavily. "M...maybe we should tell them Trixie." She mutters out as Aria quickly puts two and two together.

"What did you do to Sonata?" Aria blurts out as Lavender and Trixie trade nervous stares. She rushes forward, pinning Trixie to the wall of a building with her left hand as she raises her clenched right hand. "Where is she?"

"Aria!" Adagio calls out as her sister stops herself, though still keeping Trixie in place. "That's enough."

"I want to find our sister."

"I do too, but let's just handle this rationally alright?" As Aria begins to calm down, Trixie seizes the opportunity and places her teeth firmly in the purple haired girl's arm, giving her and Lavender the opening they need to make a quick escape. Aria clutches her hand for a moment before she and the others give chase.

"Next time, learn to keep your mouth shut." Trixie scolds her band mate as they race down the street. "Let's get to the park. We'll have some fun with them there." She says with a smirk. The two look back to see Winona, quickly gaining on them. Trixie quickly takes out the vial of dust a throws a bit of it into the animals face, causing her to jump around in a panic.

"Are you okay girl? What's wrong?" Aria says as the dog almost snaps at her.

"Get back!" Adagio says as she looks at Winona. "Wait. It's okay girl, just hold still." Adagio holds her hands out toward her and the dog begins to calm down. "That's it, good girl." Winona rolls over and allows Adagio to rub her stomach.

"How did you do that?" Aria asks in shock as she and the others are in awe.

"It's...just something I picked up. Come on, we can't lose her."

"It looks like they're headed toward the amusement park. Lucky for us it's closed until Saturday." Whiz Kid says as the group pursue them. They spot Trixie and Lavender heading into the "House of Horror" attraction.

"Okay girl, stay here okay. Ticki, you stay here and keep Winona company. Whatever is in there, I don't want you to get hurt." Aria says as she puts the ferret down on Winona's head and the two lay outside of the attraction as the others move inside. As they attempt to move through the darkness, Curly pulls out his cellphone to give them some light as they move down the halls.

Adagio looks around at the dimly lit walls, decorated with every form of scare possible before turning her attention back to her sister, who clearly has a look of distress on her face. "Are you okay Aria?"

"I'm fine." She responds bluntly.

"You know you can tell me anything. You don't have to keep it bottled up. Trust me, I know what that's like. What's really bothering you?" Adagio places a hand on her sister's left shoulder as she finally comes out and says it.

"I hit Sonata okay. I lost my temper and I hit her." Aria says as the others stop.

"What happened?"

"It was something stupid. I overreacted to something and she was only trying to help and I messed up. Now she's in real trouble and it's my fault."

Adagio grabs her sister by the hand. "Listen to me. Everything is going to be alright. Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"Sure feels like it's her fault." They hear Trixie's voice over the loud speaker. "If not for her we would have never had the chance to catch poor little Sonata Dusk on her own."

"Where is she Trixie?" Adagio shouts.

"I'm afraid by the time you figure that out it will be too late."

"Okay Trixie. You've had your fun. Now come out in the open, tell us where Sonata is and go home before I have to find you and make you." Curly says confidently.

"You low brow, knuckle dragging goon. You think you can intimidate The Great and Powerful Trixie. Allow me to show you the power I now wield." Immediately, the flashing, multicolored lights inside the attraction come on, not making it any easier to see as smoke machines turn on as well with Trixie laughter sounding over the loud speaker as Lavender activates the background sounds and scares. For added effect Trixie has her pour some of the powder into the water for the smoke machine as it spreads into the room.

"Yeah it's called smoke and mirrors and cheap party tricks. I've been in here a hundred times. Trust me it's going to take a lot more than that to..." Curly brags as he suddenly stops, having breadth in the vapors. Wiz Kid accidentally bumps into him, backing up. "Watch it small fry!" He shouts, shoving him.

Wiz, himself exposed to the fumes strikes back. "Why don't you watch it?" As the two begin to fight Aria attempts to break them up.

"Knock it off you two." They shove her to the ground as she unknowingly breaths in the fumes herself. "That's it!" She throws herself into the mix as Adagio looks on, then turns her attention back to Trixie's voice as she taunts them.

"You should no better than to challenge the might of Trixie!"

Adagio looks around the room as the red mist covers the floor. She stops, noticing something very familiar about it before figuring it out. She quickly rushes over to Aria to get her out of harms way. "Aria, listen you have to snap out of this. Just listen."

The purple haired girl pushes Adagio off. "Why should I listen to you? You weren't here when we needed you. You care more about Equestria than you do me and Sonata, just like you always have."

Adagio, now on the ground looks up at her. "You're right. I was so focused on what I was doing there, that it was the only thing that mattered. But that's about to change now." She closes her eyes and focuses, holding her palms out toward the ground as the red mist begins to be drawn toward her as it is slowly absorbed into her skin. As it begins to clear up, Aria, Curly and Wiz Kid pass out on the floor of the structure. Adagio gets down and puts her sisters head into her lap. "Aria, are you alright?"

Aria opens her eyes and looks up at her. She begins crying, hugging her sister tightly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. And you were right about one thing. Just stay here and rest, okay?"

"What are you gonna do."

"What I have to."

"What are you doing?" Trixie says in a panicked state as Adagio siphons every last ounce from the smoke. "More, we need to use more!" She shouts as Lavender sparingly puts another dose of the powder in. Trixie watches the monitors as Adagio makes her way to the room where the two are located. She grabs the vial from Lavender and pours all of it into the machine. The effort proves just as useless as Adagio absorbs it just as quickly as it is pumped out. Before the two realize it, the siren is standing in the doorway, blocking their only escape.

"It's over Trixie."

"Nothing is over until I pull out my last and greatest trick." She swiftly flashes the bracelet on her wrist and holds it in Adagio's direction. The orange haired girl tilts her head slightly as she wonders exactly what it is Trixie is doing. "Why isn't this working?"

"Maybe because it's a cheap, dime store bracelet with a plastic gem in the center."

"What, it's not possible. She said it would work. She said...She tricked Trixie." The realization finally hits her as she falls to her knees.

"Who Trixie?" Adagio receives no answer from the girl, who is still in shock, which quickly turns into anger as the others enter the room, having shaken off the after effects. The eldest siren picks up the vial and observes the residue. "This was made from our pendents."

"I thought you found all the pieces. How is that possible?" Aria asks.

"Who gave you this?"

"And where's Sonata?"

"You...You had to ruin everything!" Trixie lashes out. "I was going to really be great and powerful but you had to get in the way. You just couldn't let me have this, not even this once."

"Trixie, this is bigger than just a band." Lavender Lace says. "There is something seriously wrong here. We have to tell them." Trixie stands up, teary eyed, slowly backing away from the group and hurling a smoke bomb that obscures her from sight. When it clears the others look around for her to no avail. "I'm sorry, really I am for what's happened. I can show you where to find your sister. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you." Adagio says.

"What about Trixie? Do you really want to just let her go?" Curly asks.

"No, I want to give her a fist to the face, but right now, finding Sonata is our number one concern." Aria says as the group heads out. As they walk, she notices Adagio looking a little wobbly in the knees. "You okay?"

"Fine I've just never tried that without my pendent before."

"How did you even manage that?" She asks as she sees her sister's eyes change color for a moment.

"It started to flare up a couple of days after I started going back to Equestria. I guess it was a sort of parting gift from Sombra. I can feel the negative energy around me and soak it up like a sponge."

"Adagio?" Aria says with concern.

"It's okay, I can control it. Really I'm fine. Let's get going. Who knows what kind of trouble Sonata's in."

**Twilight's Lab**

"So that's basically my life in a nutshell." Sonata says as she finishes explaining her origins to Twilight. The young scientist has chosen to temporarily release her hands from the restraints so that she can eat. "Thanks for the tacos. These are my favorite. You'd be surprised how hard these are to come by where I'm from."

"Don't mention it. Now, let's get back to business shall we. I have so many tests to run and so little time to do it." Twilight grabs a remote and presses a button that locks the sirens hands down once more. Sonata looks over and sees a picture of the girl with two others.

"Who's that?"

"My brother Shining Armor and his girlfriend Cadence."

"They seem nice."

"They are. They're about the only ones that I can talk to that don't make fun of me."

"I have my sisters and a lot of new friends too. It's nice to have really good friends like that. People who will support you when everyone else tries to put you down."

"Yeah, it is." Twilight takes a long look at the picture before getting back to work.

"Hey, that's a piece of one of our pendents." Sonata says as she looks down at Twilight's research table.

"Yes it is."

"You should really be careful with that. It's really dangerous."

"That's exactly why I'm going to test it. Trixie gave me a very good idea of what it can do. But now it's time for me to see first hand what this is truly capable of. After this no one will ever call me crazy again."

"I know how you feel. People used to always call me stupid and ditzy. I guess sometimes I did things that weren't always considered the brightest, but now I have friends that focus on my good qualities instead of the ones everyone used to look down on me for. Everyone should have friends like those."

Twilight stops for a moment as she holds the gem fragment with a pair of tongs. "You seem like a very good person Sonata Dusk. That's why I hope this doesn't cause you too much discomfort." she says as she approaches the restrained girl with the glowing gem stone.


	8. Chapter 8

In the basement of the hotel, Twilight is over at her desk, further examining the gem as she keeps a voice recorded log. "Twilight Sparkle's log: Experiment seems to be going well. As I expected, the gem reacted upon contact with it's original owner despite the chemical treatments I performed on it earlier. This seems to have caused some discomfort to this Sonata Dusk. The pain seems to have only lasted a short while and the subject is now resting." She looks back as Sonata rests from her ordeal as she observes the stone under a microscope. "It also seems to have caused a change in the stone as well." As she begins to take a closer look at it, her eyes begin to glow, seemingly entranced by the gem. "It's amazing. Like nothing I've ever seen before." She slowly reaches her hand out, picking it up and clutching it tightly to her chest as it begins to glow brightly.

The increasing light stirs Sonata from her sleep as she looks on in terror at what is happening. "Twilight don't!" Before she can say anything further, a blinding light covers the room. As it dies down, the siren opens her eyes to see the girl that once stood there gone, replaced with a being with similar colored skin, bat like wings, sharp claws and red eyes. "Twilight?" She says in disbelief.

She turns around slowly to look at her before hurling an energy ball at her. It strikes the base of the table where she is fixed, throwing it and her through the air. The blast fortunately frees Sonata's hands and feet on impact, separating her mid-flight as the table smashes against the wall. She hurriedly crawls behind a pillar and curls up into a ball, hoping not to be found as she hears the creature moving about the room, smashing anything in her way. Sonata slowly opens her eyes, turning her head slightly to the right as she sees the damaged picture Twilight had on her desk earlier, laying on the floor. She looks up, filled with a new resolve. "I have to help her." She jumps out of her cover to draw Twilight's attention. She turns around, roaring at the girl. "I just hope I can think of something."

A few blocks away, Sunset and her group with the addition of Lyra head straight for the hotel to find Twilight and Sonata. As she rounds a corner she and Adagio run head long into each other. "Ow. Adagio, you made it back." She says as the other girl helps her to her feet, accompanied by Aria and the others. An excited Winona leaps forward to Applejack.

"Hey girl. What are you doing here?"

"Granny Smith said it would be okay if I borrowed her for a bit. I hope that's okay." Aria says from the back.

"It's fine. What are ya'll doing here?"

"Same as you I suppose. Going to get my sister." Adagio say.

"Lave!" Fuchsia Blush says as she rushes over to Lavender Lace. "I did like you said. But where's Trixie? Don't tell me she's still there."

"Yeah, Trixie is not really feeling her best. I'll explain later."

"Right now we need to get to that hotel." Aria says.

"Surprised you actually care." Rainbow Dash says with her arms folded.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy says.

"If you've got something you want to say, say it! You wanna call me a monster go ahead. Just say it!" Aria says as Curly and Wiz Kid attempt to hold her back.

"Everyone just stop." Fuchsia blurts out.

"It was all our fault. We caused all of it just because we were jealous of how popular you all were. Trixie and us felt like we got robbed at the Battle of the Bands so we followed her and Twilight thinking they would take us where we wanted to go." Lavender admits.

"We know we were wrong to do that to all of you so please be mad at us not each other."

"It's alright." Adagio says. "You didn't mean for it to go this far. Maybe there were some hurt feelings from back then and that was my fault. Believe me I know what it's like to get in over your head. What's important is that you realized it and now we can fix things. But to do that we all need to put any other problems we have out of our heads, all of us." She says staring at Rainbow Dash and Aria.

"Alright, I'm sorry for what I said before." Aria says as she offers her hand to Dash.

"Me too."

"I need to hang out with you guys more often. This is exciting." Lyra says with a wide grin, sharing a bucket of popcorn with Pinkie Pie.

"Where did you get...?" Lavender attempts to ask before Applejack places a hand on her shoulder.

"It's better if you don't think too much about it. Now let's get a move on." The group finally arrive at the hotel and make their way around back as Lavender Lace leads the way. They reach the back door, where Lavender reveals to them that it is unlocked and they prepare to head inside. "Alright I think it'd be best if some of us waited out here."

"Right. Lavender, Fuchsia, Lyra, Wiz Kid, Curly Winds, you guys should keep guard until we come back. And keep an eye on Winona and Ticki." Sunset requests of them.

"Hold on a second. I didn't come all this way for nothing. Besides, Twilight's an old friend. She might listen to me before she listens to a bunch of aggressive strangers. No offense." Lyra complains.

"If she's going than so am I. You never know when you'll need some muscle." Curly says confidently.

"Fine, you can come, but you do exactly what we say. Understand?" Aria says as the two nod in agreement and follow them inside while the other three keep watch.

Fuchsia sits atop a turned over a garbage can, anxiously kicking her feet before turning her attention to Wiz Kid. "Soooo...techie huh? You think you could tutor me on some trigonometry?"

Inside, the group having made it to the basement, cautiously make their way around to where they see a dim light down the hall that leads them to a room that has been wrecked, with tables overturned and objects strewn about. "Shoot, it looks like a twister ran through her." Applejack says as they survey the damage. In the center of the room they spot a figure laying motionless. Aria quickly rushes over lifting them up slightly. "Sonata?" She is surprised to see it is not her sister but a girl bearing a striking resemblance to Princess Twilight.

"Wow, she really does look like Twilight." Fluttershy says.

"Hey does that mean that there's a Sunset Shimmer around somewhere?" Pinkie ponders.

"Or an alternate me." Lyra says. This warrants annoyed looks from the others. "What? It's a semi legitimate question. I'll bet pony Lyra never gets this kind of treatment."

The girl weakly opens her eyes, looking upward as Lyra pops up over her. "Hi old best friend."

"Lyra?"

"What happened? Where is Sonata?" Aria demands as the girl's gaze never leaves the ceiling as her eyes open wide. Aria and the others look up to see a winged, blue skinned creature hanging upside down above them. It opens it's eyes and dives on them, forcing them to take cover on the other side of the room behind whatever they can find. "What is that thing?" Rarity asks.

"It's...it's Sonata." Adagio says.

"Just like what happened to me after I used the crown." Sunset explains.

"What did you do to her?" Aria says, grabbing Twilight by the front of her lab coat.

Twilight begins to tear up as she speaks. "She got it off of me. She saved me from it."

"From what?" Aria asks.

"The pendent shard." Adagio answers.

"I was running tests on it when it...it...something happened. I can't explain it."

"It overwhelmed you."

"But Sonata should be able to control this like she did before." Aria says.

"Whatever I did to it made it this way, did that to her."

"You idiot! You have no idea what you've done." Aria says, furiously shaking her.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just..."

"Just what?"

"I just wanted everyone to stop making fun of me."

"It'll be okay. I can fix this. All I need is some time and..." Adagio says, stopping as she and everyone else see Pinkie Pie in the middle of the room, a cupcake in hand as she approaches Sonata.

"Pinkie!" Everyone says in unison.

"Hey Sonata. You look...different. I'm here to help okay? Just relax." For a moment, Pinkie's odd behavior seems to be working as she reaches down slowly taking the treat from her. "There, better?" The pink haired girl is surprised as she receives the cake to the face. "Hey!" Sonata then raises her clawed hand to swipe her but is stopped as Curly Winds yanks on her wings from behind, giving Pinkie the time she needs to get away. She spins around and attempts to slash him only for Applejack to lasso him and getting him out of her range.

"Got ya." She says as she gathers her rope.

Curly sits there for a moment as Lyra helps him up. "You alright?"

"I think I'm in love." He says as he looks over at the farm girl.

"Slow your roll muscles. We've got a bigger problem right now. One with sharp teeth and claws." Lyra reminds him as they avoid another one of Sonata's attacks as she soars overhead. As everyone scrambles to get out of her path, she manages to corner Fluttershy and dives on her.

"Fluttershy, move!" Dash shouts as the girl is frozen in fear. Suddenly, she is snatched up and out of the way as Sonata's claws become wedged in the wall. Fluttershy opens her eyes to see her rescuer. "Trixie? You saved me?"

"Don't look too much into it. I'm only here because she owes me a proper reward." The white haired girl says as she turns toward Twilight.

"Thanks anyway."

"Don't mention it. Now how do we stop her and get my gem back?"

"I've got this." Adagio says. "I can drain off the energy and hopefully it will get her back."

"But you've only done it once and you don't even know if it will work." Aria say in protest.

"You know I have to try."

"Let me help."

Adagio looks over and sees that Sonata has freed herself and searching the room for them."No, we almost lost you once because of me. I'll be alright. The rest of you need to get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Lyra says as she and Curly Winds help Twilight to the exit with the others.

"Good luck." Sunset says.

"Don't do anything I would do." Dash says with a smile. Everyone else heads out of the room as Adagio gets Sonata's attention with a sharp whistle.

"Come on little sister. That's right, focus on me." She holds her palms out toward her and begins to focus as Sonata circles her. She strains as she begins to siphon off even a small portion of the energy. Adagio quickly loses her footing as she begins to feel weak from trying to absorb so much power. Trixie's smoke had been one thing but this was proving too much for even Adagio to handle. Sonata gets closer to her as her sister falls down on one knee. Suddenly a pellet hits her in the face that explodes in a cloud of smoke and forces her into a frenzy as she flies upward, hitting the ceiling before crashing on the other side of the room, taking down a support column before scrambling into the shadows.

"You alright?" Aria says as she helps her sister up.

"She's got too much power to drain. I don't think I can do this."

"Not alone maybe. But we've got your back."

"We?" She looks over Aria's shoulder and sees the other girls plus Twilight.

"I'll do whatever I can to fix this." Twilight says humbly.

"Thank you. It's going to take all of us to do this." Adagio says as Aria takes her hand and the others join hands one by one. They look over as Sonata charges at them again. "Alright, just focus." Adagio holds out her hand once again. This time she can feel the energy moving through her and the others. Sonata begins to slow as the process continues, her monstrous features beginning to diminish, though she continues to advance on them.

"Just a little more." Sunset strains to say as Sonata, though weakened, is almost on top of them.

"It's not enough." Twilight says. She stops as she feels someone take her free hand. Turning she sees Trixie, with a determined look on her face.

"You've got the abilities of Trixie on your side. It is more than enough." She joins in with the others and, sure enough, her added help makes all the difference. As she adds in her efforts, the girls, Twilight and Trixie included, begin to form the ponytails and ears, to the latter two's surprise. Inches away from Adagio, Sonata finally stops, returned to her original form.

"Woah." She says simply, falling over as Adagio and Aria catch her. Sonata looks over to her other sister. "Adagio, you're back."

The orange haired girl's eyes tear up as she hugs her sister. "Yeah."

"Are you gonna stay for a while. I wanted to throw you a party when you got back."

"That would be nice. And yes, I'm staying."

"I had the weirdest dream. You wouldn't believe it."

"I think we would." Aria says with a smirk. The others gather around, unaware that the ceiling is beginning to crack from Sonata's rampage.


	9. Chapter 9

**Earlier **

Trixie, having had her plan ruined by Adagio, Twilight and even her own band mates, now sits on a bench in the local park. She is both angered for being double crossed and saddened by the fact that her only friends have abandoned her. In her mind, Trixie plays with the notion of going back to confront Twilight. This is quickly brushed aside as she doubts she would be any match for the girl who now wields her former source of power. As she contemplates on what to do next she notices a familiar face a short distance away. She follows him from a safe distance, hoping to go unnoticed. He eventually stops at an underpass, reaching into a small crevice and pulling out a worn suitcase.

"Do you live here?" She says surprised as he stops and turns to her.

"Be it ever so humble." He says sarcastically. "I take it things didn't exactly go as planned for you either."

"I had everything going my way. I had the stone, I had the Rainbooms and Dazzlings right where wanted them and now I have nothing. I lost the gem, the powers, and the only people I thought were my friends." She says as she sits down next to Sketchy.

"You know kid, I used to have this plan. This plan to humiliate and get even with all the people who I though wronged me. Then I met Twilight Sparkle and it seemed like everything I thought of was coming to fruition." He offers her a canned soda as he has one himself. "Someone close to me wronged me a long time ago and I teamed up with Twilight and you because I wanted to make them hurt the way they hurt me. But it took me a while to realize I just wanted my only friend back."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You did all of this to get revenge on those other girls right? But is that what you really wanted to begin with?" Trixie turns her gaze to the ground, her fists clenched tightly. "All I'm saying is don't make the same mistake I made. Do you really want to spend the next few years of your life thinking of how you're going to get back at them? I did and look at me. A former janitor living under a overpass."

Trixie stands up and turns away from him for a moment before turning back around. "Well, Trixie is not you. She is the most talented girl in this town and I am not about to roll over and call it quits. You may have chosen to be a loser but not The Great and Powerful Trixie!" She gets up and heads back toward Twilight's lab. Sketchy just sits there, shaking his head slightly, continuing to sip his soda.

**Present**

Having finally neutralized the situation, the girls help Sonata to her feet. She looks around and sees Twilight, greeting her with a smile. "You're okay."

"Thanks to you. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't got that thing off of me."

"You probably would have eaten us all like one of those late night horror movies." Pinkie says popping up.

"How cool would that have been?" Sonata says as the two begin conversing as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah she's back to normal." Adagio says. She watches as Aria approaches the two.

"Sonata?" She says as the younger turns to her. She wraps her arms around her in a hug, resting her head on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry for what happened. I never meant to hurt you. Please please, forgive me. I promise I'll make it up to you somehow." She gets no response for several seconds as tears run down her face.

"Aria?" Sonata says as she takes a step back, her head hanging down. She extends her right hand and, sticking her pointer finger out, pokes Aria on the nose. "Boop." She smiles happily as Aria wipes her eyes. "You can make it up to me later if it'll make you feel better. There was this cool motorcycle I've had my eye on."

"We're having a rare moment when I actually open up here Sonata. Please don't push it."

Meanwhile, Trixie, having slipped away from the others, manages to find the stone. "Come to Trixie."

"Hey Trixie?" She spins around, keeping her hands and the gem hidden behind her back. Applejack approaches her with a hand extended. "Just wanted to thank ya for the help back there. But what made you come back and help out? Not that I'm complaining."

Trixie keeps the gem in her left hand as she moves her free hand to shake the farm girl's. "I just felt it was something I needed to do."

"I have to say this is incredible." Twilight says, marveling at her transformed state a short while before it fades.

"You should hang out with us more often. Trust me, it gets way crazier than this." Sunset Shimmer says. Looking up she notices the cracks in the ceiling getting larger by the second. "Um, how long has this building been abandoned?"

"About ten years or so. Why?" Twilight asks.

"I'm wagering that between the years of neglect and Sonata's little 'outburst', the ceiling above us has had it."

"I agree with Sunset." Rarity says nervously. "And with that, **RUN!**" The group make down the hall as parts of the building begin to come down. They move as fast as their legs can manage as, one by one, they make it outside, the others waiting for them just as the doorway is blocked by debris.

"Is everyone alright?" Curly asks as Lyra and the others head over.

"Yeah, we're fine." Adagio says before looking around. "Where are Sonata and Twilight?"

"I thought she was right behind us." Fluttershy adds as the others turn their gaze back toward the doorway. "Oh no."

Lavender looks around, silently noticing that Trixie is absent as well.

Inside the building as the rubble from the ceiling covers the floor, Trixie emerges from under a table that she managed to duck under during the panic. She smiles before realizing that she has once again lost her source of power. "Of course." Annoyed but undeterred, she begins her search for the stone. "Where are you my little trinket?" Sifting through the dust and debris she stops as she hears a sound from behind her.

"Trixie?" She turns and sees Sonata, leaning over a pile of rubble, trying her hardest to lift it off of an unconscious Twilight. "Boy am I lucky you're here. You have to help me get this stuff off of Twilight before the rest of this ceiling gives out."

Turning back to the task at hand, Trixie continues her search. "No, all I have to do is find the gem that she cheated me out of and get out of here." She notices a small glimmer of light emanating from a pile of broken wood and plaster. Reaching in she pulls out the stone. "There you are. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to find another way out of here before the whole place comes down."

"You can't just leave her here."

"She lied to me and she kidnapped you."

"Didn't you technically help her with that?"

Trixie nervously shifts her eyes. "We're getting off topic here. She crossed the both of us. Why would you help her?"

"Because she's my friend. She made a mistake but she came back to make it right."

"Well she's not my friend." Trixie says as she prepares to walk away.

"But you'll still help, right?" Sonata says, looking up as she can see more cracks forming on the walls and ceiling.

"And why, pray tell, would Trixie do that?"

"Because you're a good person." Sonata's statement causes Trixie to pause for a moment. "You like to make big shows and you brag a lot, just like Adagio used to do. You and her are a lot alike that way. And I guess, just like her, even if you talk down to others, even if you act mean on the outside, deep down you are a nice person and you act the way you do because you think it will make people like you. You don't want to be alone." Sonata continues to try to dislodge the debris trapping Twilight.

"I know you're upset with us and her, but are you really willing to leave her here? Because if you do, I don't think you'll have any friends ever again." Seeing that the remainder of the ceiling above could give way at any minute, Sonata goes back to working on freeing Twilight. She closes her eyes as she strains to lift it, noticing it is getting lighter. "Hey I'm actually doing it."

"Not quite." She looks over to her left to find Trixie aiding her. "One more good lift." The two, working in unison, are finally able to flip the heavier objects off of her and pull her out.

"Twilight, are you alright?" The siren asks as she girl opens her eyes. "You're okay!"

"Thanks to you."

"Hey, we're friends. What else do you expect?"

"Yeah yeah. Hugs and warm feelings all around." Trixie says sarcastically. "But we do have a more pressing matter. We seem to be trapped in her and our only exit has been blocked."

"Not exactly. I actually built in a secret tunnel way that should get us back to the service, but..." Twilight says hesitantly.

"But what?" Trixie demands to know.

**A few minutes later**

"We have to get back in there. We can't wait." Aria says, looking frantically at the doorway.

"There's no way we can get back in through there. We can't risk causing anymore damage. We might make it worse." Sunset says as everyone attempts to think of a new plan.

"Any ideas in that big brain?" Curly asks Whiz Kid.

"Not a one this time. We can't go through the front without drawing attention to ourselves. That and all the other doors are locked. Give me a sec, I'll come up with something."

"That won't be necessary." The group turn to see Trixie with her arms folded standing a short distance away. She is surprised as Lyra, Lavender, Fuchsia, Whiz, and Curly dog pile her.

"Take that and that!" They shout as they hold her down.

"What are you guys doing?" Sonata says, coming down the alleyway, with Twilight leaning on her for support.

"You guys are okay." The other girls rush past the huddle mass of the other over to Sonata and Twilight.

"What are you numbskulls doing?" Trixie demands as they look over at Sonata and the others.

"Oh, ha ha. See we thought that you had gone irredeemably evil so..." Lavender attempts to explain as Trixie shoves them all off.

"Yuck. What smells so foul." Whiz Kid says as the others begin to smell it as well.

"Uh, Sonata. Why do you guys stink so bad?" Adagio says, holding her noes as the others do the same.

"Well there was only one other way to get out of there so we took the..."

"You know what? I really don't want you to finish that sentence." Aria says.

Trixie begins to walk away as Sonata calls to her. "Hey Trixie. Thanks."

"Yes yes. It was the least The Great and Powerful Trixie could do. I suppose you want an autograph as well." She takes out a note pad and pen from her jacket pocket and signs her name on a sheet, tearing it out and shoving it into Sonata's hands. "You're welcome." She says as she casually walks away.

"Boy, does that girl get on my last nerves." Applejack says as they watch her leave.

"I don't know," Sonata says as she opens up the crumpled piece of paper and finds the pendent stone tucked inside. "she seems pretty okay to me."

"Hey Trixie, wait up." Lavender and Fuchsia call out.

"You girls are still going to follow her?" Rarity asks.

"Well she may be loud, rude, inconsiderate, spiteful to a grand degree...wait where was I going with this?" Lavender stops as Fuchsia decides to finish her thought.

"She's still our friend and it's our responsibility to be there for her. Check you girls later." The two dash off to join Trixie, vanishing from sight not long after as the larger group looks on for a moment.

"Okay, seriously, I'm gonna blow chunks if we don't do something about that smell." Curly says as the group decide to head for Applejack's house to get cleaned up. After a very long and tiring day the group says their goodbyes as Curly offers Lyra, Whiz and Twilight a ride home.

"Bye Twilight." Sonata says as she hugs her. "And you promise you'll be at Adagio's party for sure?"

"I wouldn't miss it." She waves goodbye to the other girls as Curly sees her home.

"Well Sonata you sure have a way of making friends with the weirdest people. It's really exhausting to tell you the truth." Aria admits, sitting on the ground as Ticki sits on her shoulder. Sonata joins her as Adagio sits between them.

"You know girls this has made me realize something very important." The orange haired girl says looking off into the distance.

"What's that?" Sonata asks. She receives the responds in the form of Adagio putting a hand on both of their heads. "I am never leaving you two alone again." She says with a chuckle.


	10. Chapter 10

"Welcome back Adagio!" The eldest siren hears as she walks out from the Apple family home and sees a large crowd of students from Canterlot High awaiting her, a huge banner with the spoken words being held from either end of the group. Sonata and Pinkie pop out from the crowd as they greet her.

"Aren't you surprised?" Sonata asks.

"Sure am." She turns her gaze as they guide her to the back of the house where the real festivities are being held, with all manner of games and food laid out for what is to be a very enjoyable day.

"Then let's party!" Pinkie shouts as the two rush off.

"You're not really that surprised, right?" Sunset says a short distant away, a smirk on her face.

"How could I be? She's been talking about it for the past three days." She replies. "But it makes her happy just to do it. So what's the princess going to do with that shard?"

"Twilight says she'll handle it. From what she says it looks like any power that was left is gone now. But just to be on the safe side, they're throwing it into a volcano guarded by a dragon."

"Well I don't know about them, but I'll be sleeping better knowing that. Hopefully I can finally put that little chapter behind me once and for all."

"So are you going to be heading back again?"

"I don't think so. Aria, Sonata and I, we're a team. We've always been together. They need me and I need them too. Thanks for looking out for them, but I think it's time for me to be their big sister again."

"I'm sure they'll appreciate that. Especially now that we have a new friend to hang with." The two look over to see Twilight Sparkle mingling with Fluttershy, Lyra and Bon Bon who, thanks to her friend is bound to a wheel chair with a large caste around her right leg. Along with them are Shining Armor and Cadence. As they share a laugh, Lyra accidentally swings her arm, connecting with Bon Bon's foot, causing her to tense up. To make things worse, she also spills her punch on her.

"The magic of friendship. I'm beginning to believe it can exist anywhere, Equestria or not."

"What do you say we get in on all of this partying? It is your special day after all."

"Sure. Besides, it looks like Sonata hasn't exactly gotten how pin the tail on the donkey works." The two look over to see the youngest siren with the game tail suction cupped to her forehead.

"Did I get it?" She asks removing the blindfold as Adagio shakes her head amusingly.

Across the large yard, Aria talks with some of the other party goers before spotting a familiar face. "Excuse me for a minute." She says as she makes her way over. "Hey Snails." She says, lightly bowing her head.

"Hey." Is his only response.

"I wanted to apologize for the other day and everything. I overreacted without giving you a chance to explain."

"It's okay. We're still friends though right?"

"Of course. You're one of the weirdest people I've ever met, but weird in a good way." She says, patting him on the back. "I do still owe you one. And a little Pinkie told me that a certain magician's assistant has their eye on you." She gestures a short distance away, where a group of students, Fuchsia Blush included, are watching Applejack and Curly Winds arm wrestle, with Rainbow Dash acting as the score keeper. Applejack barely makes an effort as Curly tries with all his might just to hang on, only to be slammed down.

"Come on. Best out of seventy-five." He says as he hops back into his seat.

"And that's Applejack's idea of a date." Aria says sarcastically as she turns her attention back to Snails. "Go over and talk to her. Fuchsia's a really nice girl and I know you two will hit it off." She watches as he confidently makes his way over to her and starts up a conversation.

"Aw, it is as I see. A matchmaker you prove to be." Aria turns to see Rope-a-Dope walking up behind her. "I hope you don't mind. Crashing the party, I knew you I would find."

"Please, not today. I'm not in the mood for taunts. This is my sisters party and I'd just like to try and enjoy it." Aria says as she remains seated.

"I do not mean to cause any further pain. Please, allow me to explain. I heard after the fight that something with your sister was not quite right."

"You could say that."

"I see now that when you entered the ring, you were not wholly into the thing. I know how you feel, believe you me, that is why I owe you an apology. A bit overzealous I was in the ring. I guess that's the bad competitiveness can bring."

"It's all good. Maybe next time we'll act more like athletes should." Aria says, making a rhyme of her own. The two shake hands as the crusaders approach Aria.

"Aria, Aria!" They say excitedly.

"Woah woah. Calm down you three. What is it?"

"We're so sorry about what happened." Applebloom says.

"What?"

"That Snails dumped you." Sweetie Belle blurts out.

"I mean, we weren't really..." she is cut off as the girls continue to explain.

"And we didn't want you to be said." Scootaloo says.

"So we found the perfect guy for you. Come on over!" Applebloom shouts.

"Look girls, it's really sweet of you to want to help me but..." She stops as a young man with greyish skin and an orange mohawk, walks up to the group. Aria is almost breathless as he makes his way over.

"What's up?" He says casually. "Hey, you're Aria Blaze! I caught your fight the other night. You had some pretty sick moves." His mood changes quickly from nonchalant to excited as he recognizes the girl. The young man's comment causes the siren to blush slightly.

"Oh, um thanks." She attempts to hide her face by turning her head slightly.

"Crimson Napalm is the name by the way."

"Aria. Of course you already know that." She says slightly embarrassed. "You wanna get some snacks or something?"

"I could eat." He says simply as they continue talking as they walk.

"Woo-hoo! Crusaders matchmakers!" The three girls shout as Sunset, Sonata and Adagio watch from a short distance away.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes." Adagio says in disbelief.

"Yeah, me and the girls met him yesterday at the party supply store and we thought they'd hit it off. She likes singing, he likes singing. She's in a band, he's in a band. She's generally apathetic..." Sonata says before she is stopped.

"We got it Sonata. It was a really nice thing for you to do." Sunset commends.

"Wait, did you say apathetic?" Adagio asks, puzzled that her sister is using such an advanced word.

"Yes. Sheesh! Why don't you guys think I know stuff?" She says as the three stop to see Trixie approaching them. "Hey Trixie!" Sonata says joyously. "Can I get you some cake?"

"No, thank you. I'm actually here for something else."

"I hope it's to apologize for manipulating my friends, kidnapping my sister and putting all of our lives in danger." Adagio says with her arms folded.

"Pfft, hardly. I've heard that you write letters to Princess Twilight in your little journal. And I want you to deliver this to her." She hands Sunset a folded letter. "An send it exactly the way the Trixie has written it. Ta ta." She says casually as she walks away. "And remind Lavender and Fuchsia not to party too hard. We do have a performance tomorrow."

"Okay, bye Trixie. See you later." Sonata says, waving as the magician makes her exit.

"Always so dramatic that one." The three turn to see Sketchy with a bag over his shoulder. Sunset runs over and gives him a hug. "Nice to see you again kid. Just came to say goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"I'm headed back to Equestria. Was wondering if you could call ahead and let them know I'm coming."

"Why don't you stay? We finally got things patched up."

"I think it's time for me to move on. You've found your place here, now I've got to find where I belong. That and I just lost my job so now's as good a time as any."

"Just promise you'll write once you get settled."

"Deal. Sure you won't stay for a piece of cake?"

" It's super delicious." Sonata says with a plate of cake already in hand and a huge smile on her face.

"Alright, maybe just one piece." Sketchy says as the girls guide him to the festivities.

"Hey Sonata, would like to do the honors?" Sunset asks, offering the girl her journal and the letter.

"For reals?" She says, popping back on her heels in excitement.

"This one's all you."

"So cool!" She hands Sonata the items as she sits and begins writing down the contents of Trixie's letter.

_Dear Twilight Sparkle_

_ The Great and Powerful Trixie has decided to grace you with a letter of what she has learned. Trixie is quite popular as you can well imagine. And of course it feels fantastic to be adored by so many. But I've come to realize that in my desire to want to be loved by so many I alienated those closest to me. I tried so hard to be loved by everyone and show up everyone that wronged me and I take full responsibility for what's happened._

_ As hard as it may be to believe, I don't have many friends. But the ones I have, Lavender and Fuchsia, have always been there for me and they've never let me down. Even after I treated them like dirt, they never stopped looking out for me and doing all they could to make sure I was alright. I think that is one of the greatest things about friendship. A good friend will help you even if you don't always agree on things. They'll always have your back and let you know when they think you're doing something that could be harmful to you or someone else. I'm fortunate to say I have friends like that. And though I hate to admit it, your friends are pretty okay as well. _

_ Anyway, I should be getting back to my adoring fans, and more importantly, my friends._

_Sincerely,_

_ **The Great and Powerful Trixie**_

As Sonata finishes sending the letter she rejoins the others as they continue with the festivities. Later that night, the collected group of the Rainbooms and Dazzlings stand by the statue outside of the school to see Sketchy off. Along with them are Curly Winds, Wiz Kid, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Twilight Sparkle. "Well, this is it. You sure you have everything you need?" Sunset asks as she gives her old friend one last hug.

He struggles to keep his balance with all the things he's been given as parting gifts. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure." As he moves, his suitcase falls and opens, revealing bundles of packed cash.

"Woah, you're rolling in dough!" Rainbow Dash says as the others join in her astonishment.

"Yes well, I've spent the last five years living under a highway overpass with nothing but revenge on my mind, only using the bare minimum of my paycheck to survive. So spending wasn't my main priority. Figure I'll keep it as a souvenir. Well be seeing ya." He says, having collected his things and heading through the portal.

Sunset begins to tear up as the other girls move to console her. "Are you going to be okay?" Fluttershy asks.

"I'll be alright, thanks."

"Well, I can tell hanging out with you guys is going to be interesting." Twilight says.

"That's for sure. Now how about that rematch?" Curly asks as he turns to Applejack.

"Not this again. I already beat you near two hundred times." Applejack says frustrated by his non-stop challenges. "Just admit that a girl is stronger than you." As the two go back and forth and the others begin laughing amongst themselves, Bon Bon looks around, noticing something is wrong.

"Uh, where is Lyra?" Her comment causes the others to stop, looking around to see that the girl is indeed gone.

**Twilight's Castle**

Twilight and her friends sit in the library, awaiting the arrival of Sunset's friend. A few moments later Sketchy, in his wyvern form, emerges through the portal. Lacking the long arms he had in the human world, many of his bags hit the ground, including the suitcase which bursts open revealing a large amount of gold bits. "Huh, what do you know? Dollars equal bits." He says casually as he looks up at the ponies. "Hello all." A few seconds later a mint colored unicorn emerges through the portal as well.

"Oh my gosh! Is this pony world? It looks like pony world!" She says bouncing around the room. "Your a pony and your a pony." She stops when she comes to Spike. "And I don't know what you are but who cares, this is an honest to goodness pony world! I was right all along. Is there a pony me for real? Is she here? Is she over there? I'll find her." She races off out of the library and out of the castle.

Sketchy floats there for a moment, as stunned as the ponies before commenting, a nervous smirk on his face. "Heh, tourists. What are you gonna do, am I right?"


	11. Epilogue

"This is the big night. You ready for this?" Rinbow Dash asks in the locker room as Aria makes the final preparations for the semi finals of the tournament. She now sports a shirt with Aria's insignia on it, having taken over as her head trainer. It'd been about two weeks since all the craziness with Trixie had gone down and everything seemed to be going back to normal.

"You know it. Been waiting for this." Aria says as she bounces around the room, shadow boxing. She'd swept through her quarter final match no problem and now she was going up against her rival, Rope-a-Dope in just a few minutes. She now sports a new pair of boxing trunks as well as a new robe and shirt to match courtesy of Rarity. "I was really hoping we'd make it to the finals for this match."

"Yeah, but you know how the brackets are. Just go out there, be awesome and win this thing." Dash gives her usual ecstatic enthusiasm.

"Thanks. I'll do my best." As she finishes her warm ups a knock comes at the door.

"They're ready for you." Curly says as he and Wiz Kid wait outside. Aria and Dash emerge a short time later as the group make their way down to the gymnasium. The group emerge to the thunderous applause of many of the other students as they make their way to the ring, Crimson Napalm and his band mates playing a song for her ring walk off to the side. Aria looks over at him as he turns his head slightly to give her a quick wink as she climbs through the ropes into the ring.

In the bleachers, the other girls cheer her on, having made a huge banner in preparation for the occasion. "Go Aria, you rock!" Fluttershy shouts out in excitement, taking everyone by surprise. She stops, realizing what she's done. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was that too loud?"

"No way. That was awesome." Pinkie says.

"Nice that you're getting into the spirit of things Fluttershy." Applejack says as they watch as both boxers prepare. Aria turns as she is introduced, waving to the group as they do the same.

"And doesn't the outfit I designed for her look absolutely fabulous?" Rarity states, watching through a pair of opera glasses for a better view as the referee comes in and gives the signal for the two competitors to approach the center of the ring and gives them the instructions. A few moments later the bell rings, signaling the start of round one. Aria, mimicking her past performances, quickly closes on the inside, ducking and shifting to the side to avoid punches. All the while Rope-a-Dope moves away, throwing jabs with her longer arms to keep her opponent back. The round closes without much happening as the two return to their corners as the bell rings.

Aria takes a seat in on the stool as Wiz gives her a drink of water. "How do you feel so far?" Dash asks as Curly wipes her face with a towel.

"I'm good. Just feeling her out. I know what she can do, but I doubt she's coming back in with the same plan as last time." Aria says, putting her mouthpiece back in and heading back out as the bell rings for round two. She comes out on her toes as Rope-a-Dope continues her barrage of jabs to keep Aria back. The purple haired girl pushes through, throwing a hard left. Her opponent neutralizes the heavy blow by wrapping her arms around Aria in a clinch. The referee separates them a few seconds later as the pale skinned girl begins moving around the ring, seemingly dancing as she continues to bombard her target with blows at will. She surprises her foe as she leaps forward, catching Aria with a powerful blow to the side of her head that puts her on her seat.

The crowd roars loudly as the referee begins the count. Aria remains seated, slightly dazed from the blow. "Come on Aria, get up!" Dash shouts from her corner.

"Don't let her beat you!" Sonata shouts out as Adagio and the others join in. Aria rises at the count of eight as the referee checks that she is alright. "I'm okay." She says as she puts brings her gloves back to her face. Rope-a-Dope moves in to finish it, leaping forward and backing Aria into a corner. Crouching down, Aria springs forward, hitting her target with her right hand. The crowd shouts in excitement as Rope-a-Dope goes down herself. The bell ring a few seconds after as she gets to her feet and the two head back to their corners.

"That was crazy, daring and reckless." Dash says as they bring out the stool for her. "And I wouldn't have done it any different."

"I guess all that work you had me do with Cloudy Kicks on the soccer field actually paid off. My legs are feeling stronger than ever." Aria says before taking a drink of water.

"Yeah, now you know she's gettable. She can't take you lightly anymore." Curly says.

"But you still have to be careful, because now she's going to be working extra hard to pay you back for that." Wiz Kid states as they finish their prep for the next round.

"Woo hoo. Go Aria, go!" Fuchsia shouts as she and Lavender cheer on the siren. "This sure is exciting huh Trixie?" She gets a slight response from her band leader, who is much more reserved than her friends as she simply watches with her arms folded. The match continues as round three ends, with many of the spectators giving Aria a round of applause as she heads back to her corner.

"You're doing great out there. Just keep doing what you're doing and it's in the bag."

"Thanks Dash. Two more rounds." Aria says as she looks across the ring at her opponent. "But she's not making this easy."

"You okay kid?" Rope-a-Dope's trainer asks as they give her water and massage her shoulders.

"I sense the end is growing near. With that it's time to kick it into final gear." She says as the bell rings and she heads back out. The two square off in the center of the ring as Rope-a-Dope circles Aria, throwing jab after jab as her opponent keeps moving forward. Aria finally gets inside, forcing the girl against the ropes and begins throwing punches at every angle.

"Go for it Aria!" Rainbow shouts as their friends in the stands roar in agreement as the girl unloads on her pinned target. Punch after punch lands as Rope-a-Dope keeps her guard up, protecting her face. For about forty seconds this continues, with the pinned girl every so often leaning back against the ropes or moving her upper body to dodge the occasional blow. Aria throws a hard right only to be stopped as her opponent, having leaned back again, leaps off the ropes and catches her in a clinch. The two are quickly separated and continue. Rope-a-Dope takes advantage of the break and rushes forward as Aria, now tired out from her earlier attack is almost defenseless.

"Cover up!" Curly shouts as she complies by crossing her arms across her face to block as many punches as she can as her opponent opens up with lightning fast swings, forcing around the ring. As the last thirty seconds wind down, Rope-a-Dope delivers a flurry of punches which finally burn through Aria's guard, causing her to fall to one knee, attempting to keep herself from falling over by supporting herself on her right glove. The referee once again begins the count as Aria is stunned by the speed of the strike. She finally makes it back to her feet by the nine count on shaky legs. She gets her guard up again and weathers another assault as the bell sounds, ending round four.

The entire audience is in an uproar as they watch the two head back to their corners in preparation for the final round. "Wow, she's not looking too good." Lavender says, observing Aria.

"One more of those and she's done for." Fuchsia adds as the two look over as Trixie calmly stands up and leaves the aisle. Her friends trade confused stares as they watch her make her way down to the ring.

"She's faster than I thought." Aria says as she breaths heavily. "I knew I had her but I couldn't..."

"Relax, you did everything right. She was just ready is all." Dash says as she wipes Aria's face with a towel.

"That must have been her plan all along, to let you to burn yourself out. The fight's just about even, and now she can dictate the last round." Wiz Kid says looking over at the other side of the ring.

"Well, well, well. Looks like the great Aria Blaze isn't so hot after all." Trixie says as she approaches them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Curly says defensively.

"Helping." She whispers to him as she walks past the three and through the ropes, looking Aria straight in the face as she sits. "Don't tell me you've run out of steam. You certainly had no lack of endurance when it came to finding your sister. You even had the audacity to threaten The Great and Powerful Trixie. If you're bold enough to do that, than you've got enough guts to see this to the end, because Trixie doesn't lose to quitters. Now toughen up and show that you can at least finish this." She exits through the ropes as Aria stands up, putting her mouthpiece in.

"What was that all about?" Dash asks.

"I think she was trying to help." Aria says. "And it worked." The two contestants meet in the center of the ring for the final round as they touch gloves.

"From this I can see that a great fighter you will be." Rope-a-Dope says.

"Right back at ya." The two separate and get into their stances. The pale skinned girl makes her footwork count this round as she dances around Aria again. Aria in response, steps back, moving away from the other boxer. Before she knows it, her back hits the corner and Rope-a-Dope moves in and throws a punch. The purple skinned siren swiftly ducks under it and leaps upward with a punch that knocks her to the ground. The girl is up at six as she and Aria trad blows. The two finally stop as the dark haired girl moves away, Aria giving chase.

"Come on Aria! You got this girl!" Applejack says as she and Sonata get everyone chanting her name.

Rope-a-Dope fights back with a flurry of punches. Aria quickly backs away, then lunges forward, connecting a left to the girl's side. She is countered as her opponent connects with a downward punch to the left side of her face, causing her to stagger forward. Aria fights back, as the two trade blows again before they get into a clinch again. She holds on as the last few seconds dwindle down and the final bell sounds. "Aw man, I never want to fight you again. Too exhausting." Aria says.

"I agree. No Blaze vs. Rope-a-Dope III." She says as the referee takes the two by one hand each and stands in the center of the ring as everyone awaits the decision.

"So nervous. It's a real nail biter." Pinkie says.

"Yes, I just wish you'd bite your own Miss Pie." Rarity says, pulling her hand away from Pinkie.

Everyone looks on nervously as the referee finally makes the decision, raising Aria's hand in victory, much to her surprise. The crowd cheers loudly as her friends rush down to congratulate her on her win. "That was great. Could have been at least twenty percent more awesome though." Dash jokes as everyone rushes into the ring. Rope-a-Dope makes her way over as she and Aria hug before she exits the ring.

"Aria you did it!" Sonata says, jumping for joy.

"Never doubted you for a second little sister." Adagio says with a smirk.

"That's my girl." Crimson Napalm says as he lifts her up, Ticki sitting on top of his hair.

Aria looks over and sees Trixie and The Illusions standing off to the side and makes her way over with her friends. "Thanks Trixie, for what you said."

"Don't look too much into it. I had my reasons." The magician says with her arms folded.

"Like what?" Pinkie asks.

"Th...That's none of your business!" She says, a bit frazzled.

"Come on Trixie. Group hug." Sonata says as everyone piles in.

"No stop, get off. No hugging." Trixie says as everyone gathers around with Photo Finish ready to take a photo of the winner and her friends.

"Don't fight it Trixie, trust me. Just go with it." Adagio says as Trixie joins everyone in a big smile for the camera.


End file.
